Everything About Dried Mealworms for Chickens

We at Dine-A-Chook Australia have developed dried mealworms as the perfect protein snack for chickens, poultry, reptiles, as well as other pets.

Now you can boost the protein of your laying hens using snacks they will love to eat!

Dried Mealworms are not actually worms. They are the larva of a beetle. Beetles and insects are a favourite treat for free-ranging hens in their natural habitat.

The Dine-A-Chook natural product is irresistible to your chickens.

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Do Chickens and Poultry Need Extra Protein?

Yes, they do! Even with a high-quality pellet mix, your chickens might not get enough protein. Protein is crucial for their health, especially for egg-laying hens and older birds. During moulting, which happens once a year, chickens need more protein to grow new feathers. These new feathers are made up of 85% protein. Dine-A-Chook Natural Dried Mealworms provide the extra boost they need.

Are Mealworms Good for Chickens?

Definitely! Mealworms are an excellent source of protein, essential for their overall health, egg production, and feather growth.

Can Chickens Have Dried Mealworms?

Absolutely! Dried mealworms are a convenient and nutritious treat for chickens. They help supplement their diet, especially if they don't get enough animal-based proteins from foraging.

Chickens are omnivores, so they need both plant-based foods and animal-based proteins like worms, small lizards, and insects. If your hens free-range, they might get some protein from scavenging, but adding dried mealworms ensures they get enough to stay healthy and productive.

Dine-A-Chook Natural Dried Mealworms are the perfect way to make sure your chickens get the extra protein they need to thrive.

Why Use Dried Mealworms for Poultry and Pets:

Putting aside the protein benefits of Dried Mealworms, here are a few more reasons for using Natural Dried mealworms for our Poultry and Pets.

Mealworms as a Tasty Treat

Who doesn't love treating their pets? Not only will your Hens go crazy for the taste of Natural Mealworms, but they are also a great tasty treat and reward for:

• Wild Birds
• Pet frogs
• Turtles
• Rats and Mice
• Fish
• Sugar Gliders

Feeding two or three dried worms to your pet amphibians, reptiles or mammals every second day is an adequate amount.

Use Mealworms to Attract Wild Birds

When used on an outdoor bird feeding tray, mealworms will attract beautiful wild insect-eating birds to your yard. Some of the birds you may attract depending on your area could include:

• Magpie
• Thrushes
• Finches
• Quail
• A variety of Wren
• Robins
• Peewees

For the low cost of mealy worms, you can draw exotic birds to your garden. It is important to remember that mealworms are a treat and should not be considered a substitute for food. Use them sparingly and also ensure there is water available such as a birdbath or similar.

Use Natural Mealworms as a training reward

Teach and train your chickens to do some pretty cool tricks with a mealworm snack. You may like to teach them to come to you when you call. You can also teach them to jump up onto your lap or walk between your legs. It helps them recognise that it is ok and safe to be with you. It is also the perfect way to tame your chickens and hens around your children.

To learn how to apply mealworms to Chicken Training check out our Learning Centre Article all about Train your Chicken to do Tricks.

Other dried mealworm benefits include:

• Long life storage
• Huge savings compared to live worms
• They can't escape from your feeder or feeding fray
• They require no refrigeration

Mealworms are full of nutrients

Protein contents account for 53 percent of the food value in our dried worms, along with 28 percent fat and less than 10 percent fibre and moisture. Slight variations in the analysis may occur as a result of the age of the mealworms. Closeness to the pupae stage, the choice of the drying process and the size of the worm can marginally affect the results of an analysis as well.

Where do we source our dried worms?

In the wild, worms live under decaying leaves and also logs that provide the plant-based diet. They burrow through organic matter to find rotted food, grains as well as vegetation. Occasionally, households may find them ruining pet food, cereal, flour and other dry goods.

Our mealworms receive a well-monitored diet of grains, vegetables and cereals. These sources are never blended with animal matter. We demand the strictest quality standards and our worms never eat any GMOs.

Being dried, you can store them without deterioration or diminishment of nutrient value.

Our 283gm pack contains approximately 8000 worms. The Dine-A-Chook Dried Mealworm 850gm pack holds five times that amount. When we use the term natural, we mean it. There are NO preservatives or additives. Thanks to the drying process you can store our mealworms for up to 12 months in a cool, dry space without the need of refrigeration.

Can you rehydrate Natural Mealworms?

Rehydrating Your Natural Mealworms

You may want to consider rehydrating Dine-A-Chook dried mealworms for chickens. You can do this one of two preferred way:

• Treat them with cold pressed virgin olive oil or
• Rehydrate with Dine-A-Chook Apple Cider Vinegar with Garlic

Adding liquid, it gives them the natural appearance of a worm that is alive. Your hens may respond even more enthusiastically to one that resembles a live bug. Rehydrating the larva with healthy oils and liquids adds flavour and increases nutrition.

Remember, access to water is essential for your hens to compensate for the dryness of the worms, just the same as it is crucial for them to access with chicken feed. A Dine-A-Chook Chicken Drinker provides fresh clean water on demand for your Chickens. 

Choose the Best Feeding Time

It is preferable to feed these treats between daylight hours up until an hour before dark. To lessen rodents do not supply any more than could be consumed by your flock within 10 minutes.

Even when free ranging or foraging in the garden, winter presents challenges for foraging, and the summer can make the ground too hard for hens looking for a tasty worm.

Choose a feeding method that is convenient for you. You may sprinkle on the ground so that your wild birds can forage for them. Or place them on a table for easy bird watching.

You can also mix the mealworms with seed in your bird feeder to provide a natural alternative when insects are too hard to find.

Assuring Compliance with Import Regulations

Regulations required by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection ensure the safety of imported goods such as our worms. The strict policies in effect by the Australian government and our own high standards assure you of the quality of our product.

Happy mealtime with your chooks!

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