Zemeraire
Songster
For the first time I can remember, my local pet store started to stock live Mealworms. The feed stores around here don't stock them live as far as I can find, so this store currently has a monopoly. And they are very pricey. Even a small container of tiny ones just feels so expensive for what is in the container.
So today I set up a tank to grow some mealworms up, let some become beetles and just let some get bigger so they feel like real treats for my hens.
This is my first time doing this, so I just thought I'd ask if anyone has any guidance here and feedback on my setup.
The tank is in my office. It is not plugged into anything, but the tank (an old spare one) has an inbuilt light in the lid so there is just a random cord.
The substrate is a mixture of rolled oats, quick oats I had on hand, the last of a box of sultana bran, a little brown and white rice, a few bricks of wheatbix nobody in my house was going to eat, a handful of leftover uncooked dry mini shell pasta, a handful of crushed grain free kangaroo cat biscuits, quarter of a cup of protein powder/bran mix stuff you give chickens, and a good couple cups of my chicken's mix feed.
I have cut carrots for moisture, and know you are meant to replace them every few days.
The cut toilet rolls are something I saw in a youtube video for them to hide under as beetles. I don't really want to use egg cartons because I use those for my chickens XD
The mealworms I got (and have seen so far) have a size range between about 2cm and 3cm. I'm not sure how old that would make them, and how far off they are from becoming pupae. The pet store got them 2 days ago, and have had them refrigerated in that time. They are very active now a few hours after being put into the tank. I got "50 grams" of live mealworms.
Once they are breeding, I plan to use them for chicken supplement/treat food, and freshly moulted mealworms as occasional treats for my Axolotls. I will also be sharing with a couple friends who also have chickens.
How many is a good number of mealworms to feed my chickens, and how regularly?
For context, I feed a locally mixed feed that is wheat based but has layer pellets, sunflower seeds, and a bunch of other seeds that I don't know.
My run is around 9m X 4m, with a couple fruit trees, bushes and a gooseberry bush. They get supervised time in my yard at least once a week, and two neighbours throw weeds and scraps over the fence for them. I pick up a box of fruit and vegies from the local food bank every other week (stuff that is no good to sell but still good for chickens) and dump it in a chicken managed compost pile in their run. Lawn clippings are also put in the compost pile monthly. At least once a week I like to give a treat to my flock in the form of either whole corn cobs hung up so they have fun while eating it, or tinned chick peas spread around the whole run.
I have tried dried mealworms before and they hate them, but when i tried a couple of live ones they went nuts.
What does everyone think?
So today I set up a tank to grow some mealworms up, let some become beetles and just let some get bigger so they feel like real treats for my hens.
This is my first time doing this, so I just thought I'd ask if anyone has any guidance here and feedback on my setup.
The tank is in my office. It is not plugged into anything, but the tank (an old spare one) has an inbuilt light in the lid so there is just a random cord.
The substrate is a mixture of rolled oats, quick oats I had on hand, the last of a box of sultana bran, a little brown and white rice, a few bricks of wheatbix nobody in my house was going to eat, a handful of leftover uncooked dry mini shell pasta, a handful of crushed grain free kangaroo cat biscuits, quarter of a cup of protein powder/bran mix stuff you give chickens, and a good couple cups of my chicken's mix feed.
I have cut carrots for moisture, and know you are meant to replace them every few days.
The cut toilet rolls are something I saw in a youtube video for them to hide under as beetles. I don't really want to use egg cartons because I use those for my chickens XD
The mealworms I got (and have seen so far) have a size range between about 2cm and 3cm. I'm not sure how old that would make them, and how far off they are from becoming pupae. The pet store got them 2 days ago, and have had them refrigerated in that time. They are very active now a few hours after being put into the tank. I got "50 grams" of live mealworms.
Once they are breeding, I plan to use them for chicken supplement/treat food, and freshly moulted mealworms as occasional treats for my Axolotls. I will also be sharing with a couple friends who also have chickens.
How many is a good number of mealworms to feed my chickens, and how regularly?
For context, I feed a locally mixed feed that is wheat based but has layer pellets, sunflower seeds, and a bunch of other seeds that I don't know.
My run is around 9m X 4m, with a couple fruit trees, bushes and a gooseberry bush. They get supervised time in my yard at least once a week, and two neighbours throw weeds and scraps over the fence for them. I pick up a box of fruit and vegies from the local food bank every other week (stuff that is no good to sell but still good for chickens) and dump it in a chicken managed compost pile in their run. Lawn clippings are also put in the compost pile monthly. At least once a week I like to give a treat to my flock in the form of either whole corn cobs hung up so they have fun while eating it, or tinned chick peas spread around the whole run.
I have tried dried mealworms before and they hate them, but when i tried a couple of live ones they went nuts.
What does everyone think?