Topic of the Week - Feeding mealworms, bugs etc.

[Cadbury22]

I give them dried mealworms in the winter when insects are all hibernating. They are free range so they find plenty of food on their own.

 

[Shadow920]

i'm working on a cricket, mealworm, and earthworm tank. and during japanese beetle and June bug season i'll go out with a jar early morning and dump the japanese beetle clusters into the jar and in the hottest part of day i'll sit in the shade of my porch and wait for the june bugs to land and gather them. my chickens love beetles.

 

[Sophocles]

When feeding extra protein do be careful with the forms of live protein that you chose to feed your chickens. Meal worms are the larva stage of the DARKLING BEETLE and both meal worms and darkling beetles are a major pest and a serious disease vector in commercial chicken houses, besides the meal worms destroy the very chicken house that they live in by boring into the walls of the chicken house in order to pupate. This behavior is more pronounced when using the deep litter method of of chicken manure control.

I think this is only a concern in warmer climates or if you're working with very deep litter. (Or in the case of commercial operations: provide heating) Mealworms used for feed are generally of the T. molitor species, they don't really propagate very well below 15°C/65°F.
Speaking from experience having a mealworm farm.

 

[drewskimac]

I raise mealworms, and my chickens love them. I am a diehard fisherman and always catch live minnows at the creek for bait - the chickens love to catch the leftover minnows and eat them. Occasionally i'll catch a mouse by a paw in a trap, and I release it into the chicken pen - they LOVE fighting over live mice.

 

[GC-Raptor]

chickens visiting the neighbors (they destroyed their garden and pooped on their welcome mat)

Yeah, I used to let them free range up to 4 hours before sunset. One day my neighbor text me saying my hens were in her yard. That's when I cut it back to 1 hour. So far so good for over a month. GC

 

[quackingdom]

I'm not the squeamish type. If they want to eat it, let them eat it (unless it's something that I know is dangerous, which has never happened). Our dog killed a mouse recently and was mauling it, but not eating it. I scooped it up and threw it in front of one of our ducks. She pounced on it and ate it whole.

They've also eaten live lizards and frogs. I remember once hearing an odd crying sound, and I went outside to find out what it was. Meg was dashing around the yard, dodging ducks right and left, with a train of ducks following her, hoping to steal her prize: there was a live frog in her mouth, with all four legs stuck out like sticks and mouth wide open, screaming. It almost sounded like a kitten or maybe even a baby crying. It was gross, but kind of hilarious.

I tried raising mealworms and superworms, but I started with way too few and the geckos ate them. I'll try again at some point. When I get larger livestock like goats and horses, I hope to try raising earthworms with the manure.

Sometimes, when I have time, I'll turn up old boards and other objects around the yard for them so they can can catch whatever bugs and worms are underneath. One girl, Cola, has caught onto this game so well that she comes running if she even thinks I'm going to pick up a piece of plywood or concrete block. If I find a cricket, I sometimes catch it and give it to one of the ducks.

They sure love their meat!

 

[IamRainey]

I was going to raise mealworms too but I don't want to sort through battles and pupae and I don't even want to handle the live mealworms so I think I'll take my whole 3-drawer set up out to the coop and let the chickens have what they want.

Dried mealworms aren't all that expensive!

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

Just got chicks and ducks for the first time the other day. I've instructed the kids that their job tomorrow is to go around the house and deposit a chick onto the floor near anywhere they find ants. Regular black ants, no red ants.

 

[EggMan207]

Just got chicks and ducks for the first time the other day. I've instructed the kids that their job tomorrow is to go around the house and deposit a chick onto the floor near anywhere they find ants. Regular black ants, no red ants.

Be careful of spreading salmonella throughout your house. All chicks carry it. It might not be the best idea let them have access to common areas of the house.

 

[featherhead007]

It's a crazy free 4 all when I treat my flock to meal worms, I usually end up covered with chickens! on my lap, on my head, beaks in the bag, etc.