Mealworms from reptile store- safe for chicks?

[Kev]

Are they supposed to be 'clean'- no salmonella or cooties that could infect chicks? There's a local store that deals only with reptiles and they get feeder animals in bulk every week(I think).

I have no interest/can't raise my own mealworms.... but would like to try giving mealworms to peachicks and baby chickens IF it's safe to do so.

How about crickets? Problem is they escape too fast... all of my chicks are raised by peahens and hens outdoor in large pens.

OK- it would also be a great excuse to go see all the different critters in that shop. They get the coolest lizards, snakes, frogs, sometimes crabs.

 

[aoxa]

I've fed both without any issue.

Reptiles are worth far more than a chicken, so I can't see them being a problem. If you can feed them to a reptile, you should be able to feed it to a chicken.

The crickets are much more entertaining to watch them catch!

 

[camilleathome]

From someone who breeds reptiles and has chickens. Yes they are . Superworms, mealworms, Dubia roaches, Crickets all fine.

 

[Kev]

How cool is it both respondents are Canadians and have naked necks!

Thanks for the help- you know how it's so often warned about reptiles having salmonella. I don't know how true those warnings are other than for water turtles and iguanas with iguana farm origins. This negative association had me slightly worried about the reptile feed stock mealworms being 'not clean'.

whats the benefits for dubia roaches? are they slower or faster than crickets? lol

 

[aoxa]

How cool is it both respondents are Canadians and have naked necks!

Thanks for the help- you know how it's so often warned about reptiles having salmonella. I don't know how true those warnings are other than for water turtles and iguanas with iguana farm origins. This negative association had me slightly worried about the reptile feed stock mealworms being 'not clean'.

whats the benefits for dubia roaches? are they slower or faster than crickets? lol

Camille has a NN from me

I'll let her answer that question, because I have no clue. Crickets gross me out less than meal worms, and the chickens seem to like them all the same.

You can always find night crawlers this time of year for fishing bait as well. We all know how chickens like worms.

 

[Kev]

Haha! Good on you for spreading NN love up north!

Yeah I know what you mean- crickets don't bother me the slightest... but a mass of mealworms is not exactly a pretty sight and I do sometimes get the willies if a mealworm is trying to bite me or just trying to escape by pushing with their legs while I am holding one.


I don't feed nightcrawlers to my birds- they are one of the vectors for Blackhead- very lethal disease for peafowl. Chickens can get infected with Blackhead but normally they show no effects however become incubators.. shedding the cysts into the soil. It's one of the big reasons many recommend not keeping chickens with peafowl- there's no way if they are carriers for blackhead or a couple other diseases lethal to peafowl...

 

[camilleathome]

How cool is it both respondents are Canadians and have naked necks!

Thanks for the help- you know how it's so often warned about reptiles having salmonella. I don't know how true those warnings are other than for water turtles and iguanas with iguana farm origins. This negative association had me slightly worried about the reptile feed stock mealworms being 'not clean'.

whats the benefits for dubia roaches? are they slower or faster than crickets? lol

The whole thing with salmonella was back when ninja turtles were popular. people got turtles and didnt keep them with proper filtration and didnt clean them properly. Salmonella is natural in any animal(And humans) feces. It becomes dangerous when it gets into other areas of the body. But only in large amounts. Reptiles if kept clean are not dangerous at all. I took my vet tech and learnt all about Salmonellosis. You have a bigger risk of getting salmonella poisoning from badly handled raw chicken than from a pet snake that is properly cared for.

Dubias have a higher meat to "bone" ratio compared to crickets.They dont hop like crickets but are semi fast. Most will crush their heads to feed them so they dont skury away. They cant breed in cold climates and dont climb or smell and arent noisy. BUT roaches are illegal in canada. I really wish we could keep them. I HATE crickets they smell their loud and gross XD