I've been cleaning up the last of the garden and let my chickens inside the fence today to help. They free range most of the time and are always scratching around...I assumed finding worms and grubs. So today I was digging up the potatoes and found quite a few worms. Thought I'd throw the girls a few easy treats. Called them over and tossed the worms onto the ground next to me. They came running when they saw me toss something but totally overlooked the worms. Though maybe they just didn't see them so i picked them up and put them on the wooden bed boarders. Chickens eyeballed them but didn't eat them. I even started tapping next to the worms trying to get the chickens attention on them. One brave girl gave a half hearted peck but didn't eat the worm. Another girl jumped away scared when the worm moved.
What the heck...shouldn't a wiggling worm be a call to 'eat me' not 'run away in fright'? Are my chickens defective? They've been free ranging and I though foraging around the place for months. What the heck are they scratching for if they're afraid of the worms? I'm a bit bemused by chickens being afraid of worms...and a bit puzzled. I just I just thought the instinct to eat a wiggling worm would be a bit more hardwired in them.
I was thinking I might try to supplement their feed this winter from the worm compost bin as I thought they might miss the bugs (I assumed) they were eating while free-ranging. But maybe they're not actually eating any worms. Any thoughts on how to get them to eat the worms, if I collect some from the compost bins for them?
What the heck...shouldn't a wiggling worm be a call to 'eat me' not 'run away in fright'? Are my chickens defective? They've been free ranging and I though foraging around the place for months. What the heck are they scratching for if they're afraid of the worms? I'm a bit bemused by chickens being afraid of worms...and a bit puzzled. I just I just thought the instinct to eat a wiggling worm would be a bit more hardwired in them.
I was thinking I might try to supplement their feed this winter from the worm compost bin as I thought they might miss the bugs (I assumed) they were eating while free-ranging. But maybe they're not actually eating any worms. Any thoughts on how to get them to eat the worms, if I collect some from the compost bins for them?