Topic of the Week - Feeding mealworms, bugs etc.

[No Coop No Problem]

I feed mine mealworms and they seem to not care too much for them. When we’ve let them out to free range, a few of them have JUMPED and killed moths… I was cheering them on.

I've seen my chickens snatch bees and wasps out of the air and swallow them. It was surprising to witness at first

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I raise my own mealworms to feed my birds but mostly I give them to baby chicks. I feel like giving chicks lots of live mealworms for the first few days of life greatly enhances vigor and survivability. Live mealworms are also a great device when trying to make birds tame or to get their attention for taking photographs.
I raised Dubia roaches for a while and they were great in every way except for the fact that they are giant cockroaches and that gives them a big “ick” factor.
In the summer I put brooder waste in big pots in the woods, add water and let it ferment. Starting in June the wild black-soldier flies show up and quickly fill the bins with larvae. I can usually harvest a ton all summer unless wild animals discover them.

 

[redinator]

My flock gets a daily treat of dried mealworms and sunflower seeds, but as for "live" treats they are on their own. I provide the opportunity for that by letting them forage in the yard and in my 50' x 60' garden. I especially like this time of year when the days warm up just enough that some bugs come to life and the flock finds them and eats them before they have a chance to reproduce. I flipped over a large pile of weeds in the garden the other day and there were hundreds of baby spiders running around underneath. The flock had them devoured in minutes.

Though I have read some bugs and earthworms can cause parasites I do not discourage my birds from eating anything that comes natural to them. I believe a diverse diet (even with the risk of parasitic involvement) is much more healthy than a cooped-up feed only diet.

I discovered this trick unintentionally. I set pavers in the chick pen to keep then from kicking bedding into the feeders and waterers. When I went to clean it out after 4-5 days there were maggots under the pavers. I was grossed out but my 5 week old chicks came to the recuse, lol.

 

[RcoM]

I have an insect light in the garage that attracts and traps moths mostly- using a UV black light and wind tunnel. The contents are emptied next day to the relish of the flock. What started as a help to humans became a help to birds!