Mealworm farming

[WestKnollAmy]

Hmmmm, looks like it is turning into a beetle but I am not sure.
And I love the look of your substrate. (Never thought I would utter something like that!) Is that cornmeal?
Your pupae are easy to see and are laying on top really nice.

I have spent the past few days getting the pupae out of the mealie bin. Well, DD and I. OMG, I am thinking that I may just let them turn into beetles there and then move them. Of all the pupae we have taken out there are still so many mealies in there! That is a good thing , I am sure.
We do find dead mealies now but have left them in for a food source. However, they don't seem interested in eating them yet.
I also put a bit of bread in there yesterday and the mealies jumped on that. I know they will like the wheat bran when I add it.

I went through by myself yesterday to get out all the pupae I could see but as soon as DD got home she went for it, too. I told her I had already done it and she, of course, found tons more. I am thinking she likes this little project....at least for a while. She will get bored soon but for now I will take all the help I can get.

I am still trying to get the bin altered for the beetles. I like the idea of the screen on the bottom so the eggs will fall through. Seems easier to me. I gotta buy some more bins, maybe at Walmart today. And some screen. Got a hot glue gun around here somewhere.....

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Definitely dead.

When they are becoming beetles, they will get darker on the underside, where the legs are forming and they will start wiggling a bit more. It's more of a brownish color.


Nadine...it sounds like your farm is doing so well!! I still haven't tried the bread but I'm almost out of worms now. Still can't find any wee wormies. According to the time chart, (unless it is 20-40 days instead of 4-19) they're in there but I can't find them.

Maybe we both need one of those jewelers magnifiers !!!

 

[galanie]

I'm beginning to think I'm some kind of sicko because I'm enjoying this thread so much! All your ideas about substrate had me rethinking the oatmeal I was using. So I've redone my bin for the wormies. Sifted out the frass and whirred the oatmeal in the food processor. Added some wheat bran and stuff I had around that seemed good so now I'm thinking I'll be able to just sift the larger worms out with 1/4 inch hardware cloth later when I again get some big ones.

Other than the big ones and pupae in the beetle drawer I'm out of worms. I had a CUTE little polish chick that would jump in the worm drawer when I opened it and gee, I just couldn't take her out with all the fun and happy chirping and purring... you know. So eventually she completely emptied it of worms (Have you ever seen a chick satiated on mealies? I didn't think it's possible, but it is - huge crop and a nap LOL). But that's fine, it gave me an excuse to redo the bedding without worrying about separating the worms out of it first.

And I found a new home for the sweet baby (I almost cried!) so we'll have worms again!

 

[Vickir73]

I HAVE WORMS!!!!

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
earth worms .... meal worms..... parasitic worms?????

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Now this is CUTE!!!! What a smart little bird!

lovemesomechicks ~ I don't think the worms care about looks

Unless, of course, someone comes along who is providing 'designer' type accommodations for them!! First I learn that I'm supposed to be talking to them and next I'm gonna have to hire a professional to come in and overhaul the drawer and bin!

Oh my but you all are TOUGH!!!!



I now have hundreds of beetles in the top drawer and hundreds more in the bin. There are only a few worms left in the bottom drawer. I inspected the containers I have in the fridge and there's more dead than I anticapated. Definitely time to research refridgeration and freezing for optimum production. I wanted to wait a few more weeks (until my top drawer group of beetles die) to bring them up to temperature but I might have to do it now.

Research gut loading too...prior to freezing. There's still so much to learn!


Nadine ~ Are you doing a big bin inside a big bin?

 

[triplepurpose]

Sounds like you've got a great system going, hannakat. Just wondering, have you heard of black soldier flies also? I've never done meal worms, but I gather it's kind of the same idea. The neat thing about soldier fly larvae is that they are "self-harvesting", ie, you can build or buy a bin with a ramp such that when the larvae reach their final stage they try to leave the growing bin and so crawl up the ramp and drop into a collection container. No digging around for them. It's pretty nifty. You can google "Biopod" or "black soldier fly larvae" if you want to read more about it. There's a thread somewhere on this site too.

Good luck with your worms!

 

[Oopoo]

Been farming mealies for a year. Bought from Fluker's online. Fed some that winter and put rest in box with chicken feed, bout 2 -3" worth. Feed them carrots or apples every now and then and pull the pupa (aliens as we call them) into a separate box with chicken feed. They turn into beetles which also eat carrots and apples and they lay eggs. This box is now ready to "grow" babies. I always pull the pupa and start a new box because then I have stages of worms. Any that your ready to put in the fridge...pop them in tupperware with some chick feed and small air holes. Pull them out of the fridge every week for about an hour or two so they can eat...fridged worms don't eat and aren't as good for your chicks. Remember what goes in comes out...they turn the chick feed into frass (poop) this is dusty and slightly smelly so eventually you move the worms and dump the frass in the garden or compost pile. They are super easy to grow!!

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Thank you! Yes, I've been reading about them and the roaches.



Oopoo ~ Ahhhh, didn't know to pull them out of the fridge weekly. That's very good info! Thanks!

 

[flnatv]

Hope this isn't too off... but have any of you tried the superworms?
I am not supposed to feed the mealworms to my lizards (chitin content)... I would think they would be about the same as the mealworms in raising (other than the isolation factor to pupate).
Have any of you tried the superworms? Have you given them to your chickens?