Mealworm farming

[Chaneys Ranch]

I started the sorted drawer method weeks ago. I leave the beetles in a drawer for a week then move them to a new drawer and leave the eggs in the drawer to hatch. I have each drawer marked with the dates and I have heat pads under each drawer controlled with a thermostat at 72 degrees. My first egg drawer had the beetles removed on 10-15. I still have not seen a baby worm as of yet. I didnt have many beetles in there then but at least 50. I think I should be seeing something by now. I tried putting a slice of apple on top of the bran to see if anything would come up to feed on it but nothing. Is this normal to go 38 days without seeing anything?

i did want to mention and hope it helps too, i rotate my beetles about once a month. Everone has a different system, and they all work well! Bettles live in the top drawer, screened bottom and will live beyond 3 months if you get a good batch. i pull the middle drawer, date a tote add the contents of the drawer in it, and replace the drawer.That way the beetles never have me poking at them unless i am cleaning out the debris buildup. the bottom door contains a portion of the colony in case i ever have a problem and lose a drawer or tote. i keep about 3 shoebox totes, and 2 larger deep totes plus my 3 drawer... I am on a new generation of beetles already in the backup drawer, and the old ones are still active and alive.. I started them over 3 months ago. we have other uses for them, such as fishing, my oscars, and my daughters sugar gliders. I also share with my friend who originally gave me a healty start for mine. She keeps thousands at a time but will actually run herself out of "feeder size" for her lizards. I tend to run short on the mediums for my fish, they grow so fast!

 

[Turkeytruff]

Mealies oh my, total craziness.. Did my bin cleaning tonight, and i was just amazed how many lil buggers there are. the geese aren't real interested, the ducks eat anything that fits down their throat. We usually have several chicken football tackles and fights over one worm. Its the total highlight of my day i think, they never get tired of them. The alpaca boys reacted the same as yours, sniff, jerk back, then comet nibbled....then beanie snorted comet, and nibbled too lol... they were sampling what the chickens had. the next day they wiffed the pigs FF and ran behind me, demanding a little nibble... humming at me VERY loudly! its taken off from there. Now they get a little of their own every day, but i still do some dry food also. I want to understand a lot more about their digestive system before i go full out with it. Bacon's gonna be rough, but i already told my guy i want 2 more when they come available.. we plan to keep a rotation all the time. The area i chose for them has a low side that gets damp from the creek, (total mug bog now) and a slight slope on the hill. he has more room than necessary (4X lol), but i hate confining animals. I know the grow out is slower, but its hysterical watching him when he sees me coming. He bounds from one end to the other like an excited puppy, squealing and grunting his head off! And when i throw fresh hay in, he will belly roll and jump aroud the second he hears the tractor ROFL, he will actually get out of breath.! No one seems to be selling turkeys right now, so gives me time to be better prepared anyways.. gonna jump in with both feet Once the holidays are over i will order my new set of layers, and just go from there.

Your mealies sound fantastic! I look forward to the day when mine reach that level that I can start the feeding frenzy!

Aw, Bacon sounds awesome! How much did he weigh and how old was he when you got him? And how long did it take to get him to this weight? Do you mainly feed him FF now - what percentage scraps and mash and.... I have lots of questions, I better private message you next time! And yes, getting another 2 will probably be a very good thing to do.
Good luck with your turkeys out there; I have a lot of heritage turkey growers out there, wouldn't know where to look to get the BBB's.

 

[Mavrk]

Got my first beetle(s). I decided to sift through the mealworms to separate out some of the pupae just to see how many I could find (I am planning on keeping only one or two containers and not separating). I came across a newly formed beetle and one that was dark already. I also found at least 100 pupae (didn't count). I started with 1000 mealworms not too long ago. I am going to keep the pupae that I took out in another container until they turn to beetles. I have seen a couple beetle corpses, so I am not sure if they were in the original mixture or if they were killed. My guess is actually neither of these and that they were malformed and didn't survive since they didn't look quite right to me. Either way I will have plenty to give me eggs.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I found a baby mealworm!!!!!!!!

 

[Kathleen2012]

I found my first pupae yesterday. I started my mealworm farm two weeks ago from 100g container bought from a pet shop.
I have them in one drawer of a plastic 5 drawer stand on wheels. Not sure yet if I will go to the trouble of separating them out.
Or I might just spread them out as the numbers expand.

 

[JulieNKC]

Got my first beetle(s). I decided to sift through the mealworms to separate out some of the pupae just to see how many I could find (I am planning on keeping only one or two containers and not separating). I came across a newly formed beetle and one that was dark already. I also found at least 100 pupae (didn't count). I started with 1000 mealworms not too long ago. I am going to keep the pupae that I took out in another container until they turn to beetles. I have seen a couple beetle corpses, so I am not sure if they were in the original mixture or if they were killed. My guess is actually neither of these and that they were malformed and didn't survive since they didn't look quite right to me. Either way I will have plenty to give me eggs.

Me too. I had one beetle a few days ago. Just checked tonight and there are over a dozen, plus pupae wriggling all over.

I found a baby mealworm!!!!!!!!

I can't wait until I get that far.

I found my first pupae yesterday. I started my mealworm farm two weeks ago from 100g container bought from a pet shop.
I have them in one drawer of a plastic 5 drawer stand on wheels. Not sure yet if I will go to the trouble of separating them out.
Or I might just spread them out as the numbers expand.

I'm going to spread them out. I took out about 50 pupae and put them in their own container to start their own colony, then left the others. I plan on doing this again when the next batch gets here, until I get enough.

 

[Kathleen2012]

Me too. I had one beetle a few days ago. Just checked tonight and there are over a dozen, plus pupae wriggling all over.
I can't wait until I get that far.
I'm going to spread them out. I took out about 50 pupae and put them in their own container to start their own colony, then left the others. I plan on doing this again when the next batch gets here, until I get enough.

I think I will do the same. I have lots of pupae now. They lie still until disturbed then they flip about for a few seconds.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Got my first beetle(s). I decided to sift through the mealworms to separate out some of the pupae just to see how many I could find (I am planning on keeping only one or two containers and not separating). I came across a newly formed beetle and one that was dark already. I also found at least 100 pupae (didn't count). I started with 1000 mealworms not too long ago. I am going to keep the pupae that I took out in another container until they turn to beetles. I have seen a couple beetle corpses, so I am not sure if they were in the original mixture or if they were killed. My guess is actually neither of these and that they were malformed and didn't survive since they didn't look quite right to me. Either way I will have plenty to give me eggs.

Awesome, sounds like the colony has taken off!

I found a baby mealworm!!!!!!!!

Your mealies sound fantastic! I look forward to the day when mine reach that level that I can start the feeding frenzy!

Aw, Bacon sounds awesome! How much did he weigh and how old was he when you got him? And how long did it take to get him to this weight? Do you mainly feed him FF now - what percentage scraps and mash and.... I have lots of questions, I better private message you next time! And yes, getting another 2 will probably be a very good thing to do.
Good luck with your turkeys out there; I have a lot of heritage turkey growers out there, wouldn't know where to look to get the BBB's.

Thank you! Oh, it goes really fast once they all become beetles. there's about a month, 6 weeks maybe, and you think there's no eggs or wee wormies, then BOOM! Mealie madness! My girls (chickens) are going thru a hard molt, the mealies are really helping them, even my Roo is having a bad one this year. At first i saw them getting pale, so i upped the mealie feeding. Please, don't hesitate to ask or PM I am the worst one on the 20 questions. I get on peoples nerves i bet, i just want to learn everything i can. On Bacon, he was about 50 pounds, and supposedly a "runt" but i don't see it! We got him the first week of sept, and he is just HUGE. There's a "string test". You wrap the chest under the armpits, measure the full circumference of the chest. then measure from that point of their shoulders to the base of the tail. there's and equation to figure the weight from those measurements, i can't find it

but will share when i do. I ferment his feed, pelleted and use their recommended amount for weight, then follow up with scraps. (He is estimated about 200 pounds right now by our dear farmer friend up the road.). He will leave food uneaten (never would have believed it!) Once his pellets are eaten in the morning, his evening meal is scraps and a little more pellets in a warm slop mixture..its cold here, 20s at night already. Bacon wasn't gaining much at all till we started fermenting. I am flat sold on it. All the animals smell and look wonderful. The BBB or BBW turkeys, i will have to order from a (EEK) hatchery. Hubby and Dad hate dark meat

But i want heritage too, those i will get from a breeder locally.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Can someone give me a quick run-down of how to care for mealworms? I'm thinking of getting some and I really don't have time to read 4,820 posts to find out. I have some plastic drawers on casters that I can use if someone will explain the several drawer method as well?

I think my husband will probably shoot me for this but hey... the birds are my project and I'm trying to get away from the feed store as much as possible. I'm doing fermented feed, I've started growing fodder. I need to get my ground prepped ASAP for garden stuff next year, and I would also like to get some little fish to raise as a protein source... possibly some of the dubia roaches. They're not like cockroaches but more like a water beetle. They can't fly, though they have wings, and they multiply fairly quickly. Possibly some black soldier flies too... lots of ideas floating around in my head.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Can someone give me a quick run-down of how to care for mealworms? I'm thinking of getting some and I really don't have time to read 4,820 posts to find out. I have some plastic drawers on casters that I can use if someone will explain the several drawer method as well?
I think my husband will probably shoot me for this but hey... the birds are my project and I'm trying to get away from the feed store as much as possible. I'm doing fermented feed, I've started growing fodder. I need to get my ground prepped ASAP for garden stuff next year, and I would also like to get some little fish to raise as a protein source... possibly some of the dubia roaches. They're not like cockroaches but more like a water beetle. They can't fly, though they have wings, and they multiply fairly quickly. Possibly some black soldier flies too... lots of ideas floating around in my head.

Buy about 1,000 even 100 will work. the more you get the more productive they will seem. u can use any container as long as the sides are plastic or glass (smooth, and slick) to keep them from escaping. Sterilize the bedding to prevent unwelcome "bugs" by baking for 15 -20 min at least 150 degrees F or freezing a few days. You can use wheat bran or oats for the bedding. even the feed you use for your chickens.Let them grow, .. add a carrot or a potato sliced up once a week. the life cycle is a few months. You will see mealies pretty easy when you add the veges by the 2nd month, just put a big slice in and pick it up a few minutes later. Don't allow moisture or mold to develop, it will kill your colony.
I use several different types of containers. just depends on how many wee wormies you want. The drawers, i cut a hole in the bottom of top drawer, left an inch all the way around. glued a metal window screen on it with hot glue gun. i pull the 2nd drawer below it out last day of the month. dump it into a shoebox and date it. put the drawer back... i don't move any bugs anywhere unless they are getting ate. I have several huge colonies now, and am selling to the bait store near the campground we are members of. If you have a friend that raises or keeps reptiles or lizards, they may be doing this already. I started mine from a friend that breeds geckos. We both need different sizes and its worked out great! I hope this helps, they are really easy once you get it going!