Slugs, worms, wood lice, snails etc etc

[GardenDave]

Does anybody save any bugs or anything they find in their garden for the chickens? I am wondering if there is anything I can do, particularly with the slugs and snails. I don't want to kill them just because they get on my nerves but if I can use them as feed some how then great. I don't mind boiling them or anything if I know they will be appreciated by the chickens. I have already tried them with a live slug but they just looked grossed out. Does anybody have any recipes please?

 

[piphens7]

Hi, my kids love digging up worms etc and feeding them to our delighted hens! I am sure they appreciate the help lol. However I'm really new to all this, I wish the hens could eat the huge spiders in our house as well!

 

[chfite]

I would toss in the live critters and let the chickens decide.

Chris

 

[AK Baha]

My grand kids catch all kinds of bugs and feed them to the chickens. They will not eat bees hornets or wasps tho.

 

[nab58]

I've heard earthworms carry parasites, but that's my chickens favorite snack to forage for.

I would think chickens would love slugs. Are they young chickens? Mine didn't really eat bugs until they started to lay.

I saw one of my chickens running around with a tree frog hanging out of its beak the other day!

 

[Fat Man]

Most animals do fine with a moderate of gut parasites. Feed them things that discourage parasites and there will be a balance.

 

[donrae]

Bugs are a chicken's natural diet. I'm on the toss them in and let them decide category. I also keep a few pieces of plywood in the run, I periodically flip them over so the birds can scratch in the bugs that collect there. When we split firewood, we sometimes find some type of grub in the wood, those get saved and fed to the flock. Worms get dug sometimes, sometimes I'll just go in with a shovel and turn over a few spades and let them go through that.

 

[GardenDave]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Most bugs they do find themselves as they wander around the garden. I'm a keen gardener but things can get quite heated between myself and the girls whilst I'm trying to fork over the garden and they insist on searching that exact same spot I am trying to dig. There have been many times when the evening menu has been just mm's away from being chicken skewers lol. Its just the slugs and snails that annoy me. I go out on a night and get them off my crops but the problem there is that the chickens are already in bed. They are about a year old I think. Next time I find a slug or snail I'll throw it for them and see what they do.

 

[piphens7]

I love letting the hens out of there garden ( which is over a hundred square feet ) and into our back garden to do some weeding, my husband came home and actually thought I'd been weeding! I wanted to take the glory but think the chicken poop gave it away in the end, he was so surprised they hadn't devoured the flowers just the insects ect, . He seems to think they have plenty of space in there garden but I love letting them out to adventure about plus I can spy on them from the window....is that stalking behaviour ! Lol

 

[SophiaMoon]

I would save the slugs and snails in a container with some greens your chickens like and give it all to the chickens in the morning.
Watching the chickens from the window is not stalking its being a good chicken mom, or enjoying a good comedy act, depending on what the chickens are doing.