Morio worms - are they bad for chickens?

Hey guys & gals.

Long time, no speak! How is everyone?

Having a little panic here. Went to Pets R Us or whatever they're called today and, as they have branched out into Reptiles, they now sell live critters to feed to them - mealworms, crickets, and other assorted creepy-crawlies.

Thought I'd treat the girls to some live mealworms and also some things called morio worms. Bigger than mealworms and with some rather fetching dark stripes, but otherwise similar and equally revolting.

So, bought them home, tipped them into the run, girls went bonkers for a minute or so and - ta-da! - no more worms.

Anyway, now having a panic as I had a sudden need to know what these worms would grow into (a beetle, much like any other, apparently) but also came across a forum saying that this mustn't be fed to chooks as, if they are not dead when the chicken swallows them, they can chew through the craw (which is the same as the crop, yes?).

Can someone please tell me this isn't true or I can see me spending the entire night sat in the run in the dark, peering into the house every few minutes with a torch, trying to see if my girls are ok or if some form of Avian Alien is being re-enacted in there!

I feel really bad about this - it was a worm, chickens eat worms, it just didn't occur to me that the worm could eat the chicken!

Please help!

Thanks for the Neil - read through the whole thread as it was quite interesting.

Maybe I was a bit tired and emotional last night.   Let my girls out about half an hour ago and they all came shooting out of the house, full of beans (and worms) as ever and are tucking into their pellets with gusto.

I *did* check on them in the night and there was some grumbling - "GO AWAY woman, can't you see we're trying to SLEEP!"    But they all seemed happy enough.

Think they had enough treats yesterday so it's just pellets today!

Thanks joyfull - I was feeling so guilty!  Would hate anything to happen to my girls as a result of me giving them something they shouldn't have.

Although I am sure I read somewhere recently that, although chickens can be the daftest creatures, they are actually not stupid at all in knowing what they should and shouldn't eat and instinctively know the things to avoid.  I don't think I'll be testing that theory any further though! 

Yuk