Are meal worms any danger to chicks?

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GBov

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As in, some are in the brooder. :lol:

I have a hatch of Cream Legbar eggs in the bator - hatch date the 13th - and I also have mealworms in the brooder.

As one does.

So I am clearing them out but short of hoovering the entire thing out, there are going to be MWs left in there.

My thoughts are, with fresh shavings and chicks, it is the leftover mealworms in danger, not the other way round. :lol:
 
michaels4gardens":20rv08w3 said:
have fed them to chicks... no problems...
Click to expand...


Yep, me too. But to a chick sleeping, any danger of its being bitten by one?

They are not fast, or clever, and there will not be very many left in the brooder but if these eggs hatch, the chicks are really rather important so I wish to leave nothing to chance.

But the brooder is an old fridge so difficult to get every bit of mealworm litter out of it.
 
It’s my experience that meal worms aren’t a fan of bright light. So if you’re using a light as a heat source for the chicks, chances are that the mealies will dig down into the bedding and not bother the babies. Mealies only really “go after” living things in my experience if they’re very hungry.

Honestly if there’s mealies in your brooder, they’re going to be in the chick mash food or they’ll turn up underneath the feeder only to be snatched up by the chicks when you pick up the bowl :)
 
Which would explain why they all hid when I put heat lights in their containers this last winter. :lol:

I guess I was just overthinking things as I am stressing about this hatch. The eggs came a long way at an embarrassing cost but if they do well, they are the start of a very small hatchery business.
 
Oh, wow! I wasn't familiar with the breed, so I googled them: heritage British breed, very rare, autosexing, beautiful sky blue eggs, great personality, good free-range birds . . . Great choice!

:good-luck:
 
MaggieJ":3dvtbrv2 said:
Oh, wow! I wasn't familiar with the breed, so I googled them: heritage British breed, very rare, autosexing, beautiful sky blue eggs, great personality, good free-range birds . . . Great choice!

:good-luck:
Click to expand...

And these will be first generation, right out of the UK. Seriously, I was not expecting this to be so stressful! :shock: :oops: :lol: As the most I have ever spent on a hatching egg was $0.50 each, I wince each time I look at these but to start anything new, one has to take at least a few risks.

If any of them hatch, and the chicks do well, then we are off and running.
 
By now you should be able to candle them to get some idea of the likely hatch. Or are you just going to wait and see?

Our local fancy breeds hatchery, Performance Poultry, has them on their list, but marked as unavailable for this year. The owner may be just getting started with them too.
 
I was brave enough to candle one of them, and it candled as alive! I was so thrilled I wimped out at looking at the others. :oops: :lol:

My own flocks' eggs, I handle with no problems at all, but these diamonds are a bit above my touch.
 

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