[CDave]

How many?
How Often?
Fresh or Dried - and do you rehydrade the dried ones. And how long to the fresh ones keep for?
One last question  Where do you keep the live ones??

Sorry - having a thick moment.

[Vember]

I give mine dried mealworms once a week a handful for the hens (I have a lot) a handful for the ducks (again I have a lot )

If you give them too often they will get fat and may become so used to them that they may not  eat their normal stuff

Sarah

[too many girls]

doesn't really matter how much how often, they'll kill you for them, and once your dead........................no more meal worms, i dare not give them to mine, after the first 2 times, i got mugged, i drew the line when they pecked my legs (really hard) and even jumped up on my arms and shoulders and stole them out of my hand, meal worms are restricted to Christmas and birthdays, still got some bruising, beak size, on my legs and ankles, i go out now and shout MEAL WORMS when they all run to me, i say " i don't think so" and give them pasta.................

[richyrich7]

  TMG

I grow my own, it's pretty easy. The robin gets most much to the disgust of my girls, they know what I'm doing  :blink:

A couple each twice a week is their ration.

[sunshinemedic]

I have some freeze dried mealworms which I give to the girls if I really feel like treating them which happens maybe once a week.

[Hawkins]

Mine have dried and live, but they would kill for the live worms.

At the moment they have dried about every other day not too many and live as and when I have them. But they are ex-bats so are being spoilt.

[Roughlee Handled]

.........I grow my own, it's pretty easy.........................

GROW YOUR OWN?   HOW

[Hawkins]

have a look at this Rough

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/mealworms.asp

Quiet morning is it.

[kimT]

We give our girls dried mealworms and they will have yer hand off for them!

They are flippin expensive so they get just a few a week unless my O/H gets the bucket first and he lets the girls have a free for all!!!!

Grow your own! Don't think I would have the stomach for that after reading the instructions.

[Hawkins]

they do a kit on the wiggly wigglers website.

[Hengist]

You can buy live ones and keep them in an old marge tub - with very small air holes! - with some bran - they also like apple chopped up.  We used to keep them when our lad rescued bats.  The trouble is, you can never again face a bran and apple cereal!

[kimT]

I think I'll stick with the dried ones thanks very much.

[Jane-M]

Live mealies are clean and do not smell, they are dry to handle. You can keep them 3 - 4 weeks in a cool dark ventilated covered (!) container with bran enough to cover them about 1" - top up once a week, they eat quite fast. Having forked out the money for them don't feed immediately, let them grow and get more bang for your buck. I get quite interested in their progress, though not to the point of affection.

I've never had any pupate so don't know what they turn into. I guess if they do pupate you just fling the casters into the hen run as well?

I'm going to have a go at growing them though.

[Hengist]

They turn into a white beetle - there'll be a word for it - it escapes me, as do many things these days!  The bats would eat both and I'm sure chickens would.

[CDave]

Thanks for your help. Bought some mealworms for my hens - 4 x ex-bats and 3 hybrids. To be honest, the ex-bats had been a bit slow (less than 1 week of freedom) and I was hoping the mealworms wouldhelp them develop some "normal" hen traits - scratching etc. Boy - I wasnt wrong. After a couple, one jumped on my knee, knocked the worm container out of my hand and they all devoured the remaining worms like a plague of locusts.

Gonna buy some dried worms and some more live to grow em and set them free in my chipped bark run.