Dried Calci Worms
Give your garden birds the very best diet possible by including Dried Calci Worms! With up to 50 times the amount of calcium as Dried Mealworms, Calci Worms are a healthy supplement to your existing high-quality bird seed mix.
Soak them in warm water for 30 minutes before you feed them to add in extra moisture and hydration for your garden birds.
Product Details
Unfortunately for our UK wild birds, natural sources of calcium are becoming harder and harder to find. With the heavy use of pesticides in agriculture and the reduction of wild land, birds are finding healthy calcium sources few and far between.
But luckily for our garden visitors, Calci Worms are here to help!
What are Calci Worms?
Calci Worms are the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens). They typically have up to 50 times the amount of calcium than other insects or worms and are suitable to feed to a wide variety of birds, insects, and mammals. They’re also particularly popular as a source of calcium and protein for fish!
The high calcium content offers wild birds a variety of healthy benefits such as:
- Good bone strength in growing and adult birds. Bone breakages are a leading cause of fatalities in wild birds so strong bones help to reduce this risk.
- Birds with a healthy calcium intake are likely to lay more eggs. This is true for a wide variety of native birds but in particular woodpeckers, tits and wrens.
- Helps in the development of strong eggshells. A sturdy eggshell can provide developing chicks protection from disease as well as healthy hatching and sturdy, rapid bone growth.
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How to Feed Dried Calci Worms
Calci worms can be fed in the same way you would feed Dried Mealworms. They work well in specialised worm feeders or trays, and you can keep your ground feeding birds happy by simply throwing handfuls of Calci Worms on the ground.
As with all types of bird food, Calci Worms are best fed as part of a balanced diet. We recommend mixing Calci Worms into a high-quality seed mix, like our Ready Peck 5-A-Day Seed Feeder Mix, so your garden birds are getting a fantastic variety of healthy oils, protein and calcium.
Try soaking the Calci Worms in warm water for 30 minutes before you put them out to pack in extra moisture and hydration for your wild birds.
The Science Behind Calci Worms for Wild Birds
Calcium is an important ingredient for the development of wild birds. In fact, wild birds need more calcium in their diet than any other mineral. Not only is it required for bone and eggshell development, it’s also a vital aid in muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and many other metabolic processes.
According to research, calcium and vitamin D3 deficiencies in wild birds are often the result of poor dietary supplementation and can manifest as bone and joint deformities throughout generations of birds.
An excess of calcium or phosphorus in wild bird diets can cause problems for wild birds, however, calci worms have balanced levels of both nutrients, providing your garden birds with just the right amount of each.
How do Calci Worms Compare to Dried Mealworms?
Dried Mealworms are typically higher in protein; however, Calci Worms are much higher in fat and, of course, calcium. In order to keep your wild birds happy and healthy throughout the year you can either alternate between the two types of worms during different seasons, or mix the two together all year round.
Calci Worms are ideal to feed in the weeks leading up to breeding and egg laying seasons. The added calcium can aid in producing healthy, thick egg shells to keep growing chicks secure. Many birds don’t store extra calcium so it’s important that Calci Worms are offered as close to this season as possible.
During fledgling season and leading into the summer months, the high protein content in both Dried Mealworms and Dried Calciworms gives birds much needed extra energy whilst they moult, and for growth.
Packaging: Our 1.5kg & 5kg options come in a fully recyclable plastic bag. Our 10kg option comes as 2 x 5kg bags in a recyclable box. Our cardboard boxes are also made from recycled materials.
For some brilliant information on how wild birds in the UK find their calcium, click here.
Our Calci Worms come from China and are fed on a mixture of wheat meal, pumpkin seeds and bran.
Delivery Information
Free Delivery
Order by 2pm, Monday to Friday, for next working day delivery.
Free delivery on orders over £25.00 in our standard delivery areas *.
We operate a same day despatch with DPD Next Working Day Delivery for orders received before 2pm Monday to Friday.
Friday orders after 2pm will be processed on Monday.
Please note: DPD cannot guarantee Next Day Delivery. DPD Next Day Delivery has a 99.8% success rate.
Standard Delivery
Orders under £25.00 are £3.95 to standard delivery areas *.
Please allow 2 working days for standard delivery. If you have not received your order within 2 working days please contact us.
Delivery Instructions
Safe place instructions must be left directly with DPD once you receive your delivery text or email.
Live Worms
These products are shipped directly from the suppliers. Please allow up to 5 working days for these items to arrive. They will arrive separately from any other products ordered from Ivel Valley Bird Food.
*Areas Outside of Standard Delivery (as defined by DPD)
Delivery to Scottish Highlands, Islands, and Northern Ireland are charged at varying costs. The cost for any non-standard delivery postcodes will be displayed on the checkout page once a postcode is entered. Delivery to these areas is a DPD 2-5 Working Day service. We do not ship to the Republic of Ireland.
We do not deliver over the weekend or outside of the UK.