Meal worms from Walmart question.

[brent]

Has anyone ever used meal worms from Walmart for supplemental feeding?
Brent

[Dave Duit]

Mealworms are fine for supplement feeding. Crickets are a better option. You can also scramble eggs into small pieces; but never use oil to scramble eggs because martins have a difficult time digesting oils of any sort.

[Conrad Baker]

If they will eat them, then by all means. I couldn't get mine to eat crickets when I tried supplemental feeding. They ignored them, and when I put them on the feeding platform and the porches of the houses, only the mocking birds would eat them. The Martins ignored them. Maybe they weren't hungry enough. I never lost any birds that year, so maybe they were getting enough insects.

[brent]

Thanks Dave and Conrad. Conrad, where is Paulina, Louisiana? Are you concerned about this cold weather?
Brent

[Stacy B.]

Hey brent,
Today is day 3 for my 10-15 martins not eating. They haven't even come out of the housing much. I don't blame them. It's cold and wind won't let up. Gonna get a lot colder in a few days. I feel you brother. I'm concerned. But, think about this. What do the landlords who have big colonies do? Surely they can't feed or use warmers on 50+ birds? Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna do what I can to help them, but how do others handle large colonies? How long can Martin's realistically go without food? Surely migration is hard on them as most show up skinny as a rail.
And, if the martins won't leave the house how do you put hand warmers in housing? I'm just gonna have to let them fly off and return when I'm done? I hate to cause them to leave the relative safety of the nest and expend all their energy.
I got a few crickets(300) to try today or tomorrow. Hard to find. Found mealworms too. I sure hope I can get them to eat, but I can't even get close to them and they spook.

[brent]

Stacy,
I am very concerned. I have about 15, too. I plan on putting in warmers on Monday since the temperature will drop into the 20's Tuesday morning. I flicked some scrambled eggs yesterday just to get them use to me and to practice. I'll do the same today. Tomorrow I'll offer some crickets. I just don't know. Can they be getting some food along the lakes and bayou.
Brent

[Conrad Baker]

Thanks Dave and Conrad. Conrad, where is Paulina, Louisiana? Are you concerned about this cold weather?
Brent

Paulina is about halfway between N.O. and B.R., between Airline Hwy (61), and the River (Eastbank). I am concerned about the cold weather, but the PMs have been eating well last few days (lots of crane-flys around), and the compartments are full of dry pine needles.

[Gauxt]

I ordered crickets and mealworms from Fluker Farms (located in Louisiana) and they were at my door within 24 hrs.
You may be able to order now and I guess receive them Monday or Tuesday. Just an FYI

[daveh]

Dried meal worms is all that I use. I've never had to flick them into the air. I placethem on a feeding station along with oyster shell and pine straw. Sometimes I rehydrate, sometimes I don't. I usually leave some on the station all summer. I think the majority of the birds use them with the straw and shell but some don't. I've lost birds early in the season if they don't catch on and follow the other birds to the station.

Dave

[C.C.Martins]

hey Brent,
Have 3, they were out this morning. drooping wings but male still trying to show a female cavities. Anyway, yesterday used a long PVC pole with a cup to put super worms on the porches, one was eating them today. I used super worms, some crickets and regular meal worms today; pushed them into the tunnels. I could hear them stirring around so HOPE they were eating them. have 500 crickets coming today, i think they are ready to eat anything presented.

Ill not use hand warmers, food is what they need.

[Stacy B.]

Thanks so much.
That's great info guys.
Cc martins, on the mealworms, were those live, rehydrated, or dehydrated?
How'd you manage to push food into the entrance without spooking birds?
Sorry for all the questions, I've got some very skittish birds that are no doubt stressed out even more than I am. I like the cup on a pole idea tho. That's thinking!

[deancamp]

I don't have much to add to this conversation because I have been lucky to never have to try and supplement feeding, but I did see a large bag of mealworms at Menards. Maybe another option.

[Stacy B.]

Thanks deancamp.
I appreciate the tip. My local big box stores have plenty of dehydrated mealworms. If I can convince the Martin's to eat them is a another story. But I sure will try.

[Stacy B.]

I have an update from Leroy, La.(nest Lafayette, La.
It's warmed up to 38° here now up from 34° at daybreak. Martins finally came out and flew around for a while. Just enough time for me to put some mealworms on and just in porches. Hope they go for them. Did not find any dead birds, but only counted 6 martins. Had between 10 and 15 before cold weather came in. Seems like 6 or so others took off. Im not sure how to feel about that. Maybe they're out looking for food?
Anyhow the birds I have here seemed to be ok for now.

[C.C.Martins]

Hey Brent, I chilled the meal worms to immobility in the freezer, especially the big ones. Got them from pets mart alive.. The martins are well in now when the food was on the porches I flicked them in. Upper porch I dumped right at the entrance. I heard them stir when I was doing it, didng flush em though. Its windy, meal worms are light don't want them to blow off.
I stood by for a few minutes near our back porch heard movement like id said earlier, just hope they eat.
Martins are moving from one cavity to another, male following a female...wish they would stay put.

Great. Now have a martin in front gourd rack upper cavity. Would be elated, now...no telling how long he's been there. One more to target feed.

[brent]

Hi everyone,
Good news is that the sun is coming out and the birds are out feeding (I hope). I have to share what happened a couple of hours ago. While having lunch I noticed a martin stuck in the entry of one of the compartments. Of course I went into high gear and was out the door and lowering the house after confirming it was indeed stuck. Once down I discovered that the ASY male was on his back with his head out side and legs inside the compartment. There was another ASY male in the compartment so they must have been fighting. I released him by letting him use my finger to push on. Then out he went. Had experienced wing entrapment but this was a first for me. Since the house was down I put crickets and scrambled eggs on th back porches. After I lifted the house they flew back but shortly all flew to go hunting. Thought I'd share.
Brent

[JamesBrox]

I have about 8 here in NW Florida. For the first time, I've trying to supplemental feeding....flung mealworm to try to get them interested, but they're not. So just placed some scrambled eggs and mealworms in a plate on a small table by the pole. Hope they take to it.

[C.C.Martins]

Good news Brent! great catch, would have been devastating.

[flyin-lowe]

James,

Not sure how your weather has been but typically they wont accept flipped food unless they are really hungry. Usually the third day of not being able to feed on their own. So if your weather has been decent the last couple days they will probably ignore it. Once you have fed a colony before the ones that have eaten flipped food will more readily take it in the future but they have to be pretty hungry in order to be "trained" the first time.

[mwren]

Good advice "flyinlowe", timing and patience is critical when you are trying to teach supplemental feeding to martins, especially if they have never had live meal worms flipped at them before. They must be in bad enough condition from cold wet weather and lack of food, but not so bad that they cannot fly. They must be strong enough to hop off a perch and then catch the worm as it "flies" past their perch. You will lose lots and lots of meal worms as you flip them at the perched martins. For what can seem like forever, the birds will actually watch the meal worms go flying past them. When you can see a bird following the flight of the worm by turning their head so they can see what is zipping past them you have their attention!! Don't give up! Keep flipping at them and observe their activity as you flip a worm. Eventually, if they are in bad enough shape and they realize that they are starving.......they will jump off the perch, or the porch, and go catch the worm before it hits the ground. Their flight skills are really something to see when you get into "flipping". (successfully) You will get to see them catch the worms as they fly past them, and you will also get to see them miss a worm as it goes past, and they will re-adjust their flight path and they will catch the worm before it hits the ground. Truly amazing to watch their amazing eyesight, and their flight skills.

This is where "timing" is so important. If your birds are still catching some insects, and they are not in bad enough condition to be approaching starvation, they can be difficult to teach to catch the worms you are flipping at them. When they are sitting on the porches or the perches with their wings drooping, they are either in trouble, or they are close to it. Don't Give Up ! Keep Flipping at them! Once you get a bird to figure out what you are trying to do for them, and he goes after a worm and catches it......you will be amazed how fast his buddies will catch on also!!!

I have tried different types of feeding trays, or placing meal worms or crickets on the porches as a last resort. I know that this works for some landlords out there, but I have just not had much luck feeding in that manner.
Once I learned how to train the birds to understand what the old man down below the colony with the white plastic serving spoon in his hand was trying to do, I have been flipping ever since!!! It is actually the most fun you can have !! I have lots of bluebirds around the colony area, and they picked up on what was going on very quickly......some learned before the martins. They have amazing eyesight, and they would perch around the colony, and when they saw meal worms flying through the air, they will immediately fly right to where they saw the worm hit the ground, and pick it up....then return to their perch and resume watching for the "flying worms". It is really fun to learn to do, and even more fun to watch the birds figure out what is going on!
The bluebirds are not the only bird species that have learned this "game". Eventually I had some song sparrows from the field below the colony who figured out this free food game and joined into it! I also have a number of Tree swallows nesting in boxes down in the field, but I have never had a tree swallow figure things out! It might be because they don't get along all that well with the martins or the bluebirds, so they just don;t seem to want to join in and participate!! I would be interested to hear from any Landlords out there who do a lot of flipping, to see if they have been able to teach any Tree Swallows to take flipping meal worms., or do they not pay any attention like my Tree Swallows.
The best advice I can give to anyone out there who is about to suffer through what looks like a very cold and wet early spring, is to learn to flip meal worms with a flexible, plastic serving spoon, buy as many worms as you can afford, and get under your colony ASAP.......and "Don''t Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up"