Can chickens eat mealworms?

Why

Purina compares scraps, scratch and mealworms to candy that can quickly unbalance the diet, and recommends dried black soldier fly larvae as a high-protein treat. Lisa Steele says dried grubs or mealworms help chicks grow new feathers; The Happy Chicken Coop says they're good during molt.

How to serve mealworms

• A small handful scattered
• Dried or live

How often: Purina: small treats a few times a week, within the 10% limit.

Be careful with

• Easy to overfeed

And for chicks?

Chewy chick guide (Lisa Steele): dried grubs or mealworms are a recommended chick treat.

The treat rules for every food

1. 1Scraps are not nutritionally balanced. Letting them displace complete feed can cause nutritional disorders and lower egg production; hens that fill up on treats can run short of calcium and draw it from their bones, weakening shells.
2. 2Never feed moldy, rotten or spoiled food. Molds can produce mycotoxins (e.g., aflatoxin on corn, peanuts, nuts, rice) that harm poultry, and University of Kentucky notes mycotoxins remain even if visible mold is removed. Rotting food can also be a source of Clostridium botulinum (botulism, 'limberneck'). Stale or wilted (not moldy) produce and bread are generally considered fine.
3. 3Avoid very salty, sugary, fatty, fried or heavily processed human food (chips, fast food, candy, heavily salted leftovers). Merck notes salt above about 2% of the diet is usually considered dangerous for poultry, that birds under 21 days old are more susceptible, and that restricted water access makes salt problems worse.
4. 4Provide insoluble grit (granite grit or small stones) whenever chickens eat whole grains, scratch, seeds or forage; birds that can reach the ground usually find their own. Oyster shell is a calcium source, not grit (it is too soft). Birds eating only a complete pelleted feed do not need grit.

All 10 rules · How much feed they need