Topic of the Week - Feeding mealworms, bugs etc.

[Cayuga momma]

I have a question:
My one surviving chick (from my first ordering attempt) was 5 weeks old yesterday. I feel bad for her because she is always picking away at everything and i want to take her out to free range, but we have 2 inches of snow on the ground and it's 33°F outside. So i thought about going out and digging up some earth and putting it in a big plastic storage container for her to dig and pick through. Is that ok until the weather changes?
By the way we are getting more chicks next week from a different hatchery.

 

[JomoChick]

My girls see me coming and come running for the mealy worms. . I. E. Chicken Crack! They turn their beaks up at crickets, but they do love a good worm

 

[JomoChick]

I put some cinder blocks out in the run and every few weeks I'll turn them over and the chooks go crazy for the bugs, it's pretty funny to watch

I've also seen my dad feed them *still living) mice that have been caught in the trap. That was pretty gross, but the chickens were thrilled

What a great idea... I'm going to do the same!

 

[JomoChick]

Just my personal preference, but I think some folks just worry too much about what their chickens are eating, aren't eating, etc.
Of course, I do NOT suggest feeding chickens things that will obviously harm them. And I am also not going to encourage folks to feed their chickens potato chips, noodles, ice cream, etc.

I do love to dig for all sorts of live bugs for my chickens to enjoy My chickens will also eat snakes, frogs, lizards, mice, etc.

My chickens free range dusk till dawn, and boy do they get their crops filled! They forage on grass, weeds, leaves, under fruit trees, so many types of insects, etc.
They also have access to feed and water 24/7. I prefer Purina

My flock is also occasionally fed bird seed and other treats. They get table scraps every evening. I always leave at least two waterers out (in the yard and in the coop). But some of my chickens just prefer puddles

Have a blessed day

I do it exactly the same way. Happy to see a like minded person

 

[mosse71]

I've had a colony going for 10ys now in a 30gal. tote. besides the chickens and ducks, i feed the wild birds some throughout the winter months. i must have 100,000 mealys in that tote! love watching my birds eat them!

 

[BlueHorse17]

Great read! I was thinking of trying to raise my own mealworms for my flocks.

 

[mamablair]

My little flock enjoy dried meal worms, leftover bait worms and whatever they find while foraging around the yard, usually crickets and grasshoppers.

 

[Gizabelle]

Crickets are my live treat of choice. (The fact that we live so close to a bait shop, does influence that though)
All my girls go nuts for them. As a bonus, if ever they are being exceptionally stubborn about heading back to the run/coop at night, all I have to do is grab the cricket cage (empty or not) and they will follow anywhere.

 

[TooCheep]

My chickens love dried mealworms, though I will be switching to black soldier fly larvae as the only mealworms I can find locally are grown in China and I don't trust how they were grown.

Mine free range and are welcome to grab any insects/worms they can find.

At this time of year, Japanese beetles are a pest, primarily attacking my plum trees and blackberries. I go out twice per day to hunt them. I bring out a container half-full with water. Their primary defense is to drop off the plant and then fly off. I just put the container below them and brush them off the plant. I get about 2/3rds of them and then let the girls go bobbing for beetles. Serves those pests right for trying to eat my food plants.

 

[Gizabelle]

bobbing for beetles

love it!