Topic of the Week - Feeding mealworms, bugs etc.

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

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.

Thanks, will make sure we are sanitizing as well.

 

[Pater est Pullis]

I don't feed my hens live or freeze dried insects or worms. I do let them free range 1 hour before sunset daily (weather permitting), on more than an acre. We average 3 to 4 inches of precipitation a month and have many hardwood and some softwood trees. They love to search the leaves for bugs, salamanders, worms, crickets and grasshoppers.View attachment 1310059 Crickets used to find their way into my basement and keep me awake. Not anymore.
I feed a 18% layers pellet, and the only treats I give them are a mixed bird seed scattered on the straw in their pen View attachment 1310058 or under the raised coop in wet or snowing weather, twice a day. I also smash a soft shell, thin shell or cracked egg when I find one, on top of seeds on the ground. GC

I like the 1 hour free range idea, how do you train them to return to the coop?

 

[Chickassan]

Mine are loose on an acre from 7 to 7 so they fill up on bugs and anything else that's slower than them. During the winter I raise mealies and supers to fill in for the insects they love. Personally I start my chicks foraging for bugs early by scattering baby mealies in their litter. Not for everyone probably but it works here.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I like the 1 hour free range idea, how do you train them to return to the coop?

Yeah, some had difficulty finding the way to the gate around sunset. I had to show them where the gate was. Some up to 5 days. Then all was fine. They find their way back now. I go out about 20 minutes after sunset, take a headcount and lock em up for the night. GC

 

[featherhead007]

I like the 1 hour free range idea, how do you train them to return to the coop?

To get them in the coop, I go in and open a bag of meal worms....I make sure they hear the sound of opening the bag.

 

[Chickassan]

That's dirty pool, it works though.

To get them in the coop, I go in and open a bag of meal worms....I make sure they hear the sound of opening the bag.

 

[Pater est Pullis]

Yeah, some had difficulty finding the way to the gate around sunset. I had to show them where the gate was. Some up to 5 days. Then all was fine. They find their way back now. I go out about 20 minutes after sunset, take a headcount and lock em up for the night. GC

Sadly I can't let my girls free range unsupervised, my dogs weren't raised around chickens, so not chicken friendly, and the Red Tail Hawks are thick here. So the one hour (or so), supervised range, works awesomely for me. My wife suggested taking a few out a day to train them.

 

[bmanty]

Mine love dried meal worms and when we don't plan to fish in a while I have fed them crawlers, wax worms and they love the minnows. My boys have also dug up wild night crawlers and they like them from time to time.

No issues with any sickness or anything. Which I supposed could maybe happen from tank raised bait fish but its probably good protein for them.

My boys have tossed a frog or two to them once in a while which they seemed to like, (bothers my wife, she loves frogs, I like them to and the boys like to catch them but every now and then I guess the curiosity gets to them to see what the hens will do)

 

[Chickygirl63]

Small lizards . geckos ...they ate all of them.. we found one last summer gave it to them and it was on! Chicken football!! The lizards seem to be gone as well as the insect population way down..my girls free-range all day long once in a while they will get crawdads or a couple of shrimpss

 

[Mark Armstrong]

I grab live or dead June bugs from the carport, I live in Texas so they are plentiful, pitch them off in the run and they kill each other over them, fun to watch!