Chicken boarders

[honorandkit]

Does anyone give their girls these?

I've seen them available on Wiggly Wigglers (and post is free, if that's all you're buying!), but I'm not sure if I can stomach them (excuse the pun!)

Do chooks go crazy for them?

 

I think they work out cheaper than the freeze-dried ones... but you have to feed them.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I get a kilo a time from Wiggly and just shake them off the newspaper/egg boxes into a plastic container. I feed them sliced carrot/apple for moisture as they need it and three weetabix a day.

I get them for the nesting birds but the chooks usually get a few and they LURVE them

[Chook n Boo Mum]

3 weetabix ....golly I give them a handful of bokashi every so often , but I've started to order the 250g a week, 6 weeks for the price of 5 offer this time as I found I was giving them loads when I had a kilo of them...........it's much more of a treat & mainly for the broodies & the chicks than the main flock...although they do still get some

 

At the end of this batch, all the chicks will be hatched & bigger I'm not sure whether to keep it going or just go back to ordering the occasional bigger pack...............but I know I will continue somehow, the chooks go bananas for them...their squeals of delight are a joy to hear

 

I'm now happy enough to pick the worms up with bare hands & either hold them out for an individual chook or drop a handful into a bowl for them to help themselves.....though a handful flung across the run or land tends to last longer

 

Sha x

[lillybettybabs]

I get a kilo a time from Wiggly and just shake them off the newspaper/egg boxes into a plastic container. I feed them sliced carrot/apple for moisture as they need it and three weetabix a day.

I get them for the nesting birds but the chooks usually get a few and they LURVE them

Me too, I think all the birds in our village feed in my garden

[JenandBerry]

I was going to ask if hens liked live mealworms as we get these anyway for our bearded dragons so it will be easy to just order more. I feed ours bran and the occasional slice of potato or other veg and if i remember the special feed for feeder insects, you can breed your own by letting the worms pupate into beetles which lay more eggs.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Yes they get Morrisons "weetabix" and I can assure you three go in one day!

It makes them nice and fat

The kilo last me about 7-10 days depending on the weather (more used if it's raining)

I think if you feed them little they just last longer before they grow up and pupate.

[GeorgieB]

I bought some live mealworms for our hens about 2 months ago, which they love more than anything else. I made a very silly mistake though of not putting them in a container that they couldn't escape from and the next day found a fair few had roamed from the sitting room to upstairs! I thought I had found all the escapees but I'm now finding horrible black beetles in the house (so obviously not). So if anyone is thinking of getting live ones I'd strongly recommend putting them in a plastic tub with a lid (with little air holes).

[miss_spent]

I thought I had found all the escapees but I'm now finding horrible black beetles in the house (so obviously not)

Eww can sympathise as knocked over OH's fishing maggots a few months ago and ended up with flies in the house - hideous!

 

Where would I buy mealworms?

Edited June 2, 2010 by Guest

[Old Speckled Hen]

www.wigglywigglers.co.uk and www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk are pretty cheap

[miss_spent]

Thanks! Do they benefit the chickens in any way, or is it just that they like them?!?

[Chook n Boo Mum]

They are an excellent form of protein if the chook is under the weather or needs feeding up due to broodiness........or just needs spoiling

 

Sha x

[GeorgieB]

I heard that they're a good source of protein too but also heard that they absorb calcium in the body so i coat mine in limestone flour before giving them any and don't give more than a teaspoon to each hen per day.

 

Georgie

[Debby Tutton]

http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk and http://www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk are pretty cheap

 

Ooh Err ! Sorry couldn't even look at the website for more and a minute without retching. Perhaps my girls will have to cope without them I just can't cope with anything wiggly (snakes are the exception)

[Chook n Boo Mum]

I heard that they're a good source of protein too but also heard that they absorb calcium in the body so i coat mine in limestone flour before giving them any and don't give more than a teaspoon to each hen per day.

 

Georgie

 

Oh I've never heard that Georgie.....maybe a dusting of limestone for the layers would be in order then

 

Sha x

[GeorgieB]

I read it on another forum, whether it is true or not I don't know but doesn't hurt to do it. I put limestone flour in their layers mash too as we were getting softies but haven't had one since!

[GeorgieB]

I've found them even cheaper on ebay- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200441131015

 

I've bought mine from reptile-foods-direct a few times and highly recommend them.