Mealworm farming

[UrbanMamaHen]

I haven't taken them outside. They attracted the ants from outside. The colony has grown so much in the last few weeks that their tub was getting smelly. I guess the odor was strong enough to attract the ants.

 

[kwol]

I haven't taken them outside. They attracted the ants from outside. The colony has grown so much in the last few weeks that their tub was getting smelly. I guess the odor was strong enough to attract the ants.

How awful for you that your colony was attacked! My three drawer is outside now and I can tell when it is time to clean out the dead beetles because it will smell too.

 

[UrbanMamaHen]

Thanks. I have created a moat for now to keep the ants away. Some worms and beetles survived, and I hope there are still plenty of eggs unharmed to start the next generation. It was awful. Lesson learned!

 

[ericmcginn5]

that is a good thing then they will trun into beatles and the beattles will lay eggs and so on

 

[LaBella]

I have done it. I have read the whole thread.
My own mealies are on their next generation, having grown up from the store purchase, turned into beetles, laid eggs, died, and now those eggs are turning into beetles too.

I'm just maintaining the smallish colony, but when I move, I'm going to greatly expand.. We're not allowed to have chickens in my city, but you know what? They can take a long leap off a short pier. I understand the reasoning behind it, since most people with chickens here are doing something illegal with them... But I just want to have healthy food for my family.
Which makes me wonder how much hassle I'm going to get over the rabbits...
The phrase beg forgiveness rather than seek permission applies.. Besides, IF I get caught.. I'll claim religious purposes, as I was raised in an alternate religion that my mother is a priestess of, which does do animal sacrifice.
I have decided that I am at the very least going to get a couple dozen of meaties, and process them when it's time. I'll just keep them in my basement, and what my neighbors do not know they cannot complain about.
Hey, if I can keep 20 dogs in a row house in the city (20 years ago, more or less) and no one ever know, by sound or smell, chickens should be easy, lol.

 

[Hayduke27]

I have done it. I have read the whole thread.
My own mealies are on their next generation, having grown up from the store purchase, turned into beetles, laid eggs, died, and now those eggs are turning into beetles too.

I'm just maintaining the smallish colony, but when I move, I'm going to greatly expand.. We're not allowed to have chickens in my city, but you know what? They can take a long leap off a short pier. I understand the reasoning behind it, since most people with chickens here are doing something illegal with them... But I just want to have healthy food for my family.
Which makes me wonder how much hassle I'm going to get over the rabbits...
The phrase beg forgiveness rather than seek permission applies.. Besides, IF I get caught.. I'll claim religious purposes, as I was raised in an alternate religion that my mother is a priestess of, which does do animal sacrifice.
I have decided that I am at the very least going to get a couple dozen of meaties, and process them when it's time. I'll just keep them in my basement, and what my neighbors do not know they cannot complain about.
Hey, if I can keep 20 dogs in a row house in the city (20 years ago, more or less) and no one ever know, by sound or smell, chickens should be easy, lol.

20 dogs in an apartment!? Yeah, chickens will be easier than that. I can say that without a doubt!

 

[sueblack]

My worms have gone through their first life cycle and I am now getting pupa. I kept the beetles in the original bins for 3-4 weeks before I moved them. Therefore, I have some larger worms and some much smaller worms in the bin that is pupating now.


I am going to let the new beetles mature and lay eggs for a week in a fresh bin before I move them to the next storage bin. For those of you that have been doing this for a while, is this how you do it so you have the same size worms in each bin? Do you then move the beetles to a new bin every week, and if so, when do you add new beetles? How many weeks worth of storage totes do you need going before the oldest ones are large emough to feed? I want them to be 1/2" to 3/4". At what size do you feed yours to your chickens?

 

[LaBella]

20 dogs in an apartment!? Yeah, chickens will be easier than that. I can say that without a doubt!

Not an apartment, a house. A small house, but a house none the less. We had 5 in the yard, 10 in the basement and 5 in the house proper. So long as any incidental roos are taken care of as soon as I see rooish characteristics, the chickens shouldn't be an issue... I just know that when I lived in the area of the city where... illegal things were being done with chickens.. when I heard a roo crowing 3-4 am.. I was VERY quick to want to complain.
So, yes, 2 dozen chickens shouldn't be that bad...
And nothing would go to waste.. I'll make blood pudding sausages for the dogs even, that covers two of three waste products from processing the chickens, the blood and intestine... since no one I know does chicken chitlins, lol. I even confess I don't do chitlins at all. I'm just a tad bit removed from my southern roots, lolol.

Which brings me to one of my odd musings.
There is no reasons I cannot also feed mealies to my dogs. No, I do not currently have 20, nor are they particularly big. I have a yorkie a papillon and two mini rotties that won't get bigger than 20 lbs. When I go to make blood pudding sausage for the woo woos, no reason I can't add mealies to it. I have been trying to feed the dogs mealies right now, but they don't like them wiggling,
The closest I have gotten any of them to eat them is when Mimi the female mini rottie picks one up, and then spits it out and then picks it up and spits it out, and then picks it up and carries it around and then spits it out.
She is a bug eater already. I know this, I have seen her eat bugs. But I think the mealies might be too much bug for her alive, lol.

I mean if Royal Canin, one of the most expensive dog foods on the market (with substandard ingredients now that they're owned by a corporation I might add) can make a dog food using chicken feathers as the protein (the third waste product), I can make home made dog food with mealworms as part of the protein compliment. And the dogs will like it better than chicken feathers... (Just an FYI, they're making it for dogs that are allergic to any other protein, though I don't know why they have not tried mealies or earthworms, but eh...).

 

[MalMom]

Not an apartment, a house. A small house, but a house none the less. We had 5 in the yard, 10 in the basement and 5 in the house proper. So long as any incidental roos are taken care of as soon as I see rooish characteristics, the chickens shouldn't be an issue... I just know that when I lived in the area of the city where... illegal things were being done with chickens.. when I heard a roo crowing 3-4 am.. I was VERY quick to want to complain.
So, yes, 2 dozen chickens shouldn't be that bad...
And nothing would go to waste.. I'll make blood pudding sausages for the dogs even, that covers two of three waste products from processing the chickens, the blood and intestine... since no one I know does chicken chitlins, lol. I even confess I don't do chitlins at all. I'm just a tad bit removed from my southern roots, lolol.

Which brings me to one of my odd musings.
There is no reasons I cannot also feed mealies to my dogs. No, I do not currently have 20, nor are they particularly big. I have a yorkie a papillon and two mini rotties that won't get bigger than 20 lbs. When I go to make blood pudding sausage for the woo woos, no reason I can't add mealies to it. I have been trying to feed the dogs mealies right now, but they don't like them wiggling,
The closest I have gotten any of them to eat them is when Mimi the female mini rottie picks one up, and then spits it out and then picks it up and spits it out, and then picks it up and carries it around and then spits it out.
She is a bug eater already. I know this, I have seen her eat bugs. But I think the mealies might be too much bug for her alive, lol.

I mean if Royal Canin, one of the most expensive dog foods on the market (with substandard ingredients now that they're owned by a corporation I might add) can make a dog food using chicken feathers as the protein (the third waste product), I can make home made dog food with mealworms as part of the protein compliment. And the dogs will like it better than chicken feathers... (Just an FYI, they're making it for dogs that are allergic to any other protein, though I don't know why they have not tried mealies or earthworms, but eh...).

How do you get a mini rotti? Just the other day I said something about the rotti I use to have and the surgeon I worked with said he wished there were mini rottis.

 

[LaBella]

How do you get a mini rotti? Just the other day I said something about the rotti I use to have and the surgeon I worked with said he wished there were mini rottis.

The mini rotties I have aren't REALLY mini rotties, they have no rottie in them. I am working with a group of breeders that are trying to create this breed with dogs that look like rotties, but have no rottie in them.
The lady who started them has been working these dogs for at least 10 years.
My male has so much of a rottie look to him, when I sent a headshot to a friend of mine who was a rottie breeder, she replied tome nice head on him. She didn't pick up that he was not a rottie at all.
I'll inbox you a link, and anyone else wanting more info, please PM me, I'll be happy to share.