Mealworm 101

[tenthingsfarm]

This is great information - thanks so much! We have a lot of predators here, and it's open prairie, so I can't turn my birds out. I plan to build a chicken tractor this summer, but I'd also like to be able to give them some bugs in the chicken run.

Is it more cost effective (compared to chicken feed/grain) to raise bugs/worms/crickets to supplement the feed? I mean - if I'm giving them some insect protein, will there be overall savings?

Also, does anyone keep the mealworms out in the henhouse? I have a decent size one, and I have a bunch of buckets we got buying kitty litter. I'm thinking I could raise them in those buckets (holes drilled and all) by hanging the bucket on a hook on the wall or from the ceiling. The henhouse is insulated, so it doesn't get too hot in there in the warm months. (I can raise them in my basement come Winter)

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Chickaree]

I am thinking about trying to start my own mealworm farm. Can someone post pictures of thiers? Thanks.

 

[ridgrats]

I raise them in an old aquarium. Doesn't matter if it leaks cause you're not gonna have water in it anyway. I think the one I use is 30 gallons and it is just the right size to hold a 50 lb. sack of wheat bran from the feed store. About $8. 50 lbs. lasts about a year. I don't even cover it and beetles never get out. Several layers of newspaper laid on top right on the bran gives them something to hide in. Moisture is their enemy! Too much of that is about the only health hazard they have. Besides chicks. Also feed them to my aquarium fish.

The funniest mass confusion you can see is to take a handful of mealys and toss them into a brooder amongst 75 - 100 3 day old chicks. Sometimes you'll see 3 or 4 chicks playing tug of war with the same worm. Multiply this times 10 in the midst of all the others snatching, running, jumping and it's a wonder that any of them have time to eat.

Rodney

 

[robinaggie]

I've been keeping my farm outside in 75 to 95 degree F heat and wondering why they're not happy. Some have finally turned to pupae after two months. If I move mine inside now will the temperature shock kill them?

Mine like sweet potato better than apples or anything else.

And - the chick riot over mealworms is worth buying a video camera for. I have given up trying to show the chicks that there are more worms on the pile, because they're frantically chasing each other around trying to get the same worm.

 

[nerfy]

And again, I learn so much from this sight.
Thanks to all!

 

[RIR's Rock]

Hello, I have a couple of quick questions.

Do you have to remove the pupae from the main container and put the beetles in a new container? Also, do you need the beetles to go to a new container every couple weeks (I heard that they might eat the eggs and young mealworms) Can they all just stay in the same container unless overcrowded or the bedding needs to be changed?

Thanks!

 

[sillybirds]

I don't have a lot of experience, as I'm only now beginning to get my first generation of tiny mealies... From what I've read, and from my early experience, I'd recommend separating out the pupae, so they don't get eaten. Someone recommended placing a folded peice of paper grocery bag on top of the substrate to collect the large mealworms. This works great. It also makes getting the pupae easy, as the worms seem to seek out the space between the folded paper when they are full grown and about ready to pupate.

With regards to your second question, do you need to move the beetles to another container every couple weeks... I don't know for sure. I've heard you get higher yields if you do that. I saw one guy who had a container with the beetles with holes in the bottom over another container, with the idea that the eggs would fall into the bottom container and thus not be eaten by the beetles. I intially set about to do this, but found it to be impractical; if the holes were big enough to allow much to fall down, then the beetles also would get through! So what I've been doing, is, after 2 or 3 weeks of allowing the beetles to do their thing in their box, I will sift the substrate, putting the sifted substrate with eggs in a new box, and the beetles, with new substrate in another box to conceivably lay more eggs. I'll probably allow them to conclude their lives in this second box, as they should be nearing the end of their lives by that point. This seems to be working well so far. Stay tuned!

Many people do just have a single container and let the worms go about their business, all the phases in one box, harvesting as needed. This might decrease yield, but of course would be simpler. Another potential value of having a progressive/rotating system rather than one big box, is that if something bad should occur (e.g. mites, ants, mold, etc.) if you have several boxes, your entire operation might not be wiped out.

Good luck!

P.S.

 

[SOchick]

Thanks for posting this! I only have 4 chickens, so I don't need a ton of worms. So- I got a 3 gallon bucket, a 5 lb sack of wheat flour and about 100 mealworms, how long will it take for them to mature and start laying eggs? Is this enough worms, or should I get more? Sorry, just wasn't sure how many I should start with.

 

[RIR's Rock]

The mealworms should become beetles in 2 months (depending on the conditions, such as heat, moisture, and food) From what I have read. it takes 2-3 months for your mealworms to breed and have a new generation.
100 mealworms should be enough to start with for 4 chickens. (But don't take my word for anything, I have questions too.)

I am thinking of using 5 gallon buckets for my mealworm farm. Here is what I am thinking of doing. Please give me some feedback.

I will put 1000 mealworms in a 5 gallon bucket that is half full with bedding. The bedding will probably have non medicated chicken feed, wheat bran, whole wheat flower, and brewers yeast. I will give them a potato half or and apple half and shredded carrots on a plastic lid for moisture. I will place a few layers of torn newspaper so they will pupate there.

Once they pupate I will move the pupa to a small storage container, and when a pupae is about to become a beetle, I will move it to a bowl (inside the pupa container so as to save room) so that I can readily transfer it to a new bucket. The new bucket will have the same bedding as the first bucket. I will a few put toilet paper tubes in the bucket for them to hide in. Once all the beetles are in the second bucket, I will wait 2 or three weeks. At that point, I will transfer all the beetles to a third bucket so the continue to lay eggs, but do not eat the eggs in they have already laid. They will live the remainder of there lives in this bucket

Once the mealworms are big enough, I will take 1,000 mealworms and start the process over in a new bucket. The other mealworms will be given to our chickens.

How often should I change the food and clean the bucket?
Will the mealworms be crowded in the second and third buckets?
Will the mealworms do fine at a temperature of 55F-65F degrees?
How many mealworms can I expect with this setup?

Thanks!

 

[espressola]

I am curious to learn more too. But just to let you folks know not to worry, my friend's dad used to raise them for her so she could feed mealworms to her reptiles when she was a kid. He just found a large tub in the basement that he had left there almost twenty years ago that had had mealworms in it. And it still DID! Those mealworms had fed off one another and the moisture in the container all that time. So really, it's pretty hard to mess this up....

I have mine in a large Rubbermaid tub and I think it's better not to put more than a few inches of the wheat bran in the container because it can hold too much moisture and the mealworms really don't seem to go that deep. I am moving most of the pupae and beetles into new, smaller containers as I go. I'm going to keep them separate and start a few more large tubs as each container develops, so they will be more separated by size- I originally ordered several thousand of different sizes and mixed them in the one tub, but I think this way it will be easier to take some out for feeding to the chickens.

When they seem to have all developed into pupae, I am going to stash that wheat bran in my tub in a container and put it aside for a few months to see if any more baby mealworms I might have missed have developed (waste not, want not!). Then I'm going to clean it thoroughly and put just a few inches of the bran (new stuff) into it. I had about 8 inches in before and I think that's why I had too much moisture down deep. I would think about this if planning to use the buckets. I think a rectangular tub might be better since there is more surface area.

The food choices you plan to use sound good and I think it's good to put them on the plastic lid. Plus that keeps the food from disappearing into the bran and getting lost so they get old and yucky... I think they would be happier with layers of paper toweling or paper bags than with toilet paper tubes (these are great for crickets, though!) They also like cardboard egg cartons.. .I think I've read they like to be between 72 and 90 degrees F, though, you might think about that, though I don't think the temp you mentioned (55-65) would put them into hibernation, they would probably just develop more slowly...

Anyway, my 2 cents... good luck and have fun- the chickens sure do love them!

Patty N. ;-)