Where have all the mealworms gone....?

[jjthink]

Can't find them in any of the stores that usually carry them. Not even one store can estimate when they will be able to get any. Net research indicates pretty much a nationwide shortage, various reasons quoted.

Has anyone found a good source that ships (with mealworms still alive upon arrival)?

My birds are very bummed with sudden temp drops and one who is molting has had her comb turn pale. I want to give her extra protein sources but now she is rejecting eggs, high quality cat food and everything else protein that I can think of. I think she would accept mealworms and want to get some fast to try to help her through this time (hoping the pale comb is molt related...).

Any other buyable bugs that chickens would almost assuredly love? Crickets?

Thanks.
JJ

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I just bought 10,000 of those squiggly things online. It was grosser than heck when I opened the box but still I could find them. I think I went through a site called Exotic pet nutrition.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

If she's getting that picky, maybe you should dose her with some Poly-Vi-Sol. Keep her from going down too far.

 

[halo]

Do you have the website for them?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Sometimes when chickens molt, they stop laying eggs. At that time, their combs can become more pale. It's like the reverse of when they first start to lay and their comb gets darker and more red. All of that is normal. Although growing feathers requires more protein, a chicken that's not laying eggs, needs less protein than a chicken that's laying eggs. So, if she's not laying eggs right now, she may not feel a need for a lot of extra protein, especially if you've already been feeding her extra protein.

Does she eat her regular feed? How does she seem to be feeling and acting? Is she lethargic at all? Look "off" in some way? Or is she acting pretty normal? I'd tend to go by that. Mine do get more skittish when they're molting, if it's a really hard molt and they look like a half naked porcupine. Otherwise, they act pretty normal.