Nutrition info mealworms, earthworms, red wrigglers(compost worms) etc

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quailswiss

quailswiss

In the Brooder
6 Years
Aug 29, 2013
68
10
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Following on from the various discussions on using live feed, here's some info extracted from http://bamboozoo.weebly.com/the-feeders--bugs.html Lots of info on this page!

Explains why my quail love eating any kind of bug. And worms have less fat than larvae.

C.P. Crude Protein
C.F. Crude Fat
Ash Ash is the total of all minerals
G.E. Gross Energy Kcal also = gross energy
C.A. Calcium

Mealworms.

Nutritional Value: Larvae
C.P. 52.7
C.F. 32.8
Ash 3.2
G.E. 6.49
C.A. .11

Nutritional Value: Beetle
C.P. 63.7
C.F. 18.4
Ash 3.1
G.E. 5.79
C.A. .07
​

Nutritional Value: Earthworm
C.P. 62.2
C.F. 1.77
Ash 5.0
G.E. 4.65
C.A. 1.72

Nutritional Value: Night Crawler
C.P. 60.7
C.F. 4.4
Ash 11.4
G.E. 4

Nutritional Analysis of Red Worms:

Moisture- 84.8%
Fat- 2.0%
Ash-0.7%
Protein- 10.5%

​

Nutritional Analysis of House Fly Maggots:

Protein: 56.2
Fat: 20.
Kcal: 6.07
Calcium: 0.41
Ca:p: 0:36

​
 
Wow Quailswiss, you really did do some homework here! And yes, insects are quite high in protein and other essential nutrients. In the wild, quail babies are fed insects and other meat protein EXCLUSIVELY for the first 3 months of their lives. No seeds or grains what so ever unless there are no bugs to be found. And what with many processed feed products now a days that are animal protein free, quail crave these sort of bugs you have listed.

Great Job!
 
Great info and Thanks for sharing! I have an old bathtub, outside, I am using for some red wigglers for composting and feed. It is nice to see the breakdown of just what they do for my girls.
 
Ok, I put in a red wiggler bed for my birds and they just peck at them and walk away. What am I missing? The worms have now become pets themselves, I feed them and check on them like I do my birds, LOL...
 
Have your quail ever eaten worms before? If not, starve them for a day then offer tiny worms first until they get the hang of it.

However, since they stopped laying for the winter, my ladies are no longer interested in worms. They still go for insects though (earwigs, bugs, ants... you name it!)
 
quailswiss said:
Have your quail ever eaten worms before? If not, starve them for a day then offer tiny worms first until they get the hang of it.

However, since they stopped laying for the winter, my ladies are no longer interested in worms. They still go for insects though (earwigs, bugs, ants... you name it!)
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X2

This is not the time of year to try out insects on your quail. My quail turn up their beaks at anything high in protein this time of year. When the females are egg laying, they require far more protein and will gobble up the bugs. During the off season, their bodies don't require the high protein foods. :)
 
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TwoCrows said:
X2

This is not the time of year to try out insects on your quail. My quail turn up their beaks at anything high in protein this time of year. When the females are egg laying, they require far more protein and will gobble up the bugs. During the off season, their bodies don't require the high protein foods. :)
Click to expand...
Hi.
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I know this is an old thread, but....

If what you say is true, I wonder why layer feed is the lowest of all in protein? I use flock raiser, but the information is still valuable. I raise both meal worms and red wigglers. But so far my current flock shows little interest to the point I was thinking about getting rid of them. My previous flock devoured them.

After reading this, I will be patient because other than a little time it cost me nothing to maintain my worm bin. Although most veggie scraps go to the chickens, we always have lots of onion tops that I am a little uneasy about giving them fro fear of medical issues or onion tasting eggs.

Any insight you wish to share is appreciated!

@quailswiss thank you for posting this info. It's still helping people out 3 years later! Oddly enough, to the day that you posted originally.
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I need to add a caveat: redworms do not actually digest microbes, they pass through their gut unaltered. You must therefore be very careful not to "contaminate" your vermicompost with quail litter.

For our very occasional meat or fish leftovers, I have come up with the following modification of a maggot bucket:

1. Find tall plant pot
2. Fill 1/3 with soil or compost
3. Add scraps and leave for a day or so outdoors so flies can lay their eggs.
4. Fill up with straw, hay or leaves. Leave where birds cannot disturb.
5. Check after 4 days depending on temperature, there should be maggots. When the food scraps have gone leaving just the bones, it's ready.
6. Place the pot on its side where your birds can get at it. They will scratch through and eat the maggots.

The soil below the scraps absorbs the stinky liquid the maggots execrete. The leaves/straw on top filters out the smell. If you miss the "sweet spot" and the maggots have pupaed in the soil, the birds will simply eat the pupae.

I have tested this with a portion of my quail as I had them get sick before from compost worms. This method depends on outside temperatures - works only in summer here when the flies are active. Soldier flies do not occur naturally here.
 

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