Superworms Bite

[TheSpiceGirls]

I've bought Superworms on occasion for my hens before and they love them. I never thought much of it till tonight. One bite me. I don't mean latched onto the skin. I've had that happen before. It full on bite me. I yelled and tried to get it off by shaking my hand and finally had to pull it off and dropped it. Course, a hen grabbed it and ate it.

It left two puncture marks on my finger and drew blood.

Are these things really safe for chickens? What if they swallow it whole and it bites the inside of their crop?

I think I might stick to meal worms from now on. My farm died out last year and I started new and so I've been trying to leave it alone to get good and established before I start poaching from it.

But am I done with the giantworms. ACK!!! And a whole bunch of expletives.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Eww nasty thing. Glad you are OK.

LOL. Not something I want to buy - never heard of superworms but if I see them I sure won't buy them after reading about what happened to you!!

 

[SA Farm]

Yeah, superworms are nasty.

 

[brok3n]

Used to feed them to bearded dragons. Yep they do latch on as you said....but never had one bite BITE me.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

My finger is fine this morning. But I still think I'm done with these things. I'll stock up on some more meal worms and just feed those from now on. If it hurt me that much, I can't imagine if it had bit one of the hens.

 

[jungletoy]

I wouldn't worry about the hens, sixty-two million years of natural selection and the fact that their ancestors were the original apex predators makes them very formidible. I have a hundred and twenty Austrolorps and Sex-links and watch them take down scorpions on a regular basis. Ever seen a 24 hour old chick snag a gnat out of the air? Makes Mr. Miagi (Karate Kid) look silly. Recently a 18" garden snake was a happless meal for the chicks and all that was left after an hour was a belt and spine. When you witness the precision and effectiveness of these perfected eating machines it will make you pause to consider the real role of your fenced enclosure. Is it protecting the hens from the world or vice versa.

Even more wild, with large numbers of chickens, is to be in the middle of them talking and cooing when you realize you're surrounded by all your cute, well not really, more like six week old mangey teenagers with scavvies at this point. They're giving you the one-eyed once over. Not to see if you have anymore mealworms hidden on your person but sizing you up for a potential feast. This is same feeling you get when your diving and are so taken by the manta your were following that when you do look around you realize there are fifty or so reef sharks cruising around YOU. Of course, with the wave of an arm the chicken-flock-of-death can be reduced to feather dander and dust as the youngsters head for the safety of the brooder.

 

[Hayduke27]

Jungletoy, I love your post. I absolutely catch myself looking at my chickens and seeing little dinosaurs roaming in my pen! It's amazing how driven they are to eat!

 

[Hayduke27]

Also, do you think the worms are alive in the crop? I always sort of figured the chickens gave them a quick squeeze to kill them before swallowing, but now I am curious. If they are alive in the crop, how long do you suppose they stay that way?

 

[jungletoy]

Hey Hayduke27!

I'm a Colorado native as well. Yes most things in the crop may be alive initially but when you get thrown in a dryer full of stones set to spin and a little digestive juice you most likely wouldn't be for long. Little raptors indeed.

 

[jak2002003]

Many thing are eaten alive by the chicken, but once in the corp they die quickly because of powerful digestive acids and enzymes,

The super worms - or giant meal worms are same to feed to a healthy adult chicken.

I have seem my hens eating large scorpions, crabs, and even small cobra snakes!

I kind of like the giant mealworms, and I now breed them rather than the smaller ones. They are interesting to see, and very easy to breed. I find them more prolific than the regular mealworms once you get them established.