Looking for pecking blocks with insects etc

anniehoo

Hello. Would anyone have an idea where I could buy pecking blocks like these for chickens or small pots of mealworms? I have ordered online from the UK but I don't 100% trust the post to get them here on time.

I've googled Irish suppliers but can't seem to find any. Any ideas?

aonb

You can get small pots of meal worms in garden centres or Ive bought some in the fishing section of pound shops (!!!) My girls wont touch them though - but then I find them (meal worms) so repulsive that I dont mind that the girls dont eat them

LIVE meal worms are much better for hens (if you are buying them for the effect they will have in the hens crops??) - these you can buy from fishing tackle places (but I find live ones even yukkier so Ive never gone down this road!)

The pecking block which from the label looks like its specifically for hens (having a hen picture on there) - you could check out the wild bird balls/blocks which are v.easy to buy (Lidl!). I find that hens, who love to scratch best of all, prefer when I scatter grain about on the ground - keeps them entertained and exercised. I use Fancy Feeds Mixed Grain - but as you probably know you only give these 'treats' in the afternoon so that they eat their layers pellets first and the grain provides a bit of 'heat' digesting in their crops overnight

muckyhands

Not sure where youre based but I got a poultry pecking block for my girls in Petania santry a while back - they havent shown any interest in it at all... it is made up of mixed corn only though, no insects in it.

Having said that they are ex battery hens so everything is new to them!

They go mad for dried mealworms, absolutely love them. I hope its ok to treat them with them now and then? My thoughts are they are high in protein which is needed by my girls as they are still laying but barely had a feather left on them when I got them.

Personally I wouldnt give them live mealworms. You can get dried mealworms as aonb said in any garden centre and some petstores too and I suspend a head of cabbage for them too to keep them busy.

Another favourite so far is cooked potatoes.

anniehoo

Thanks a mill. I actually ordered from Natures Grub and got some fun (and hopefully tasty) stuff with shipping only £2.95 so I was really pleased.;)

muckyhands

anniehoo wrote: »

Thanks a mill. I actually ordered from Natures Grub and got some fun (and hopefully tasty) stuff with shipping only £2.95 so I was really pleased.;)

Is it ok do you know to give hens dried mealworms- from Nature Grub or elsewhere?

Are/ should they be specific to hens and do they have to be do you know?

Thanks.

aonb

muckyhands wrote: »

Is it ok do you know to give hens dried mealworms- from Nature Grub or elsewhere?

Are/ should they be specific to hens and do they have to be do you know?

Thanks.

Its ok to give dried mealworms to hens as a treat - they are very high in protein, so only about a spoon per hen!
My lot wouldnt touch them, so buy a small amount to try them on

baaba maal

muckyhands wrote: »

Not sure where youre based but I got a poultry pecking block for my girls in Petania santry a while back - they havent shown any interest in it at all... it is made up of mixed corn only though, no insects in it.

Having said that they are ex battery hens so everything is new to them!

They go mad for dried mealworms, absolutely love them. I hope its ok to treat them with them now and then? My thoughts are they are high in protein which is needed by my girls as they are still laying but barely had a feather left on them when I got them.

Personally I wouldnt give them live mealworms. You can get dried mealworms as aonb said in any garden centre and some petstores too and I suspend a head of cabbage for them too to keep them busy.

Another favourite so far is cooked potatoes.

A quick (and probably silly) question- when people talk about cabbages, is it the green (York) or the white cabbage or does it make a difference? I have tried the white cabbage (threw a few leaves on the ground) and the girls completely ignored it- does it have to be hung up for them to be interested?

Thanks

aonb

Baaba Maal surely you know by now that hens are such contrary creatures you will have to buy a cabbage to find out if they will turn their beaks up at it 8-) Ive tried mine with cabbage - they laughed at me, but my neighbours hens LOVE a head - she just puts a head of white or green cabbage in the run, and they set to. Hanging it up is considered a good boredom buster - handy if u can actually hang it somewhere.If I give them boiled cabbage, chop it up, my girls will eat it. They also love boiled turnip.

baaba maal

Aha! I see now- you give hens a list of rules and they throw it back in your face........or peck at it and decide it's quite nice actually! Will try the boiled version- and sure if they're Irish it would have to be boiled to be palatable!!

thanks as ever