All beetles, no mealworms. WHY?

[chickbird]

Quote:
THIS ARTICLE IS VERY CONCERNING TO ME AS A NEWBIE, TO GROWING MEALWORMS, I THOUGHT FROM WHAT I HAD READ THAT THE BEETLES DID NOT FLY? CAN YOU THAT RAISE THEM ADDRESS THIS? IN READING THE POST, IT LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE IS OVERLOOKING THE TAPEWORMS AND OTHERPROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FROM GROWING THEM..DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE AG VETS FEEL THIS INFORMATION IS VALID FOR THE WORMS WE ARE RAISING, NOT THE ONES IN THE CHICKEN POOP. HAS ANYONE TAKEN ANY OF THEIR WORMS AND HAD THEM CHECKED TO SEE IF THEY HARBOR TAPE WORMS...IF THEY EFFECT WEIGHT.GAIN ????ALSO WHAT ABOUT KEEPING THEM IN OUR HOMES??? THOSE WHO KNOW MORE ON THIS INFO , WOULD YOU PLEASE RESPOND....MINE ARE JUST PUPATING AND I'VE BEEN SO EXCITED THAT I'D HAVE SOMETHING BENEFICIAL FOR MY CHICKS.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
THIS ARTICLE IS VERY CONCERNING TO ME AS A NEWBIE, TO GROWING MEALWORMS, I THOUGHT FROM WHAT I HAD READ THAT THE BEETLES DID NOT FLY? CAN YOU THAT RAISE THEM ADDRESS THIS? IN READING THE POST, IT LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE IS OVERLOOKING THE TAPEWORMS AND OTHERPROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FROM GROWING THEM..DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE AG VETS FEEL THIS INFORMATION IS VALID FOR THE WORMS WE ARE RAISING, NOT THE ONES IN THE CHICKEN POOP. HAS ANYONE TAKEN ANY OF THEIR WORMS AND HAD THEM CHECKED TO SEE IF THEY HARBOR TAPE WORMS...IF THEY EFFECT WEIGHT.GAIN ????ALSO WHAT ABOUT KEEPING THEM IN OUR HOMES??? THOSE WHO KNOW MORE ON THIS INFO , WOULD YOU PLEASE RESPOND....MINE ARE JUST PUPATING AND I'VE BEEN SO EXCITED THAT I'D HAVE SOMETHING BENEFICIAL FOR MY CHICKS.

Don't panic, chickbird. Relax.

I haven't seen a report from a backyard chicken grower that has had a problem caused from raising and feeding mealworms. It's good information to have and if standard methods, and simple precautions such as screening over growing containers, etc., I don't think there will be a problem. I, personally, would be hesitant to feed the worms inside the coop where the worms could possibly escape the chickens and begin raising in the litter....outdoor feeding would be my choice.

If you get healthy parent stock you shouldn't have a problem and I believe most folks actively selling the worms *will* have healthy stock. The worms are *vectors* for the different diseases and parasites....they are more or less a "Days Inn Hotel", someplace for the disease/parasite to stay temporarily until it moves on to other places...that means that the disease or parasite had to come from somewhere else to start with. The beetle would have dine on a dead chicken or wild bird that was infected and then the beetle be eaten by another chicken before it could transmit the disease...in the confines of your worm incubator I don't think they'll be finding a dead chicken for Sunday dinner.

Eventually I'll probably raise some mealworms to feed my chickens...or I might not.

But, that article won't be what stops me if I don't. When/If I raise them, though, I'll have a screen over the container and I'll feed the mealworms to the chickens outside of the coop.

And,...clean mealworms are highly nutritious and the chickens love'em!

Best wishes with your mealworm farm and your chickens!
Ed

 

[chkinut]

Quote:
i'm really worried about that!! i had a bit of a mold problem cuz i was using cabbage and potatoes. the cabbage was generating too much moisture....and it was getting moldy and so was the crumbles that i had in my mealworm farm. so i tossed the cabbage, and carefully went through and got most of the moldy crumbles out. now everything seems fine. but now i feel like i should throw my whole farm away and start from scratch....i sure don't wanna kill my chickens!

 

[possumqueen]

This thread would be a good sticky.

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:
LOL - what do they taste like?

 

[chkinut]

i sure hope someone can please tell me that if mealworms are exposed to mold....if i feed them to my chooks....will the chooks die? i'm really worried about this.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Is all the mold gone now?? I'd change out ALL the bedding.(give them clean fresh bedding )...and DONT feed the worms to the chickens for a while... thats what i would do...I wouldnt throw out all the worms..

 

[chkinut]

that's a good idea.....cuz for one thing....they're still in the worm stage now....no beetles, so i wouldn't worry about throwing away any eggs. MOST of the mold is gone....but it's hard to get every little bit. i think my holes that hubby drilled in the lid are too small too. anyway, that's my project tomorrow....to throw out the old bedding and pick through and get all the worms to put in fresh bedding. thanks for the idea....

 

[IggiMom]

Well, my worms from Sillybird just arrived, and I made a little bitty worm farm out of an old coffee can with cream of wheat in it. And a couple of slices of potato.

I will adjust all this but it is what I had handy right now.

There are any beetles yet.

I took a few worms out to the chicks. They were very excited.

Catherine

 

[jennh]

Quote:
i'm really worried about that!! i had a bit of a mold problem cuz i was using cabbage and potatoes. the cabbage was generating too much moisture....and it was getting moldy and so was the crumbles that i had in my mealworm farm. so i tossed the cabbage, and carefully went through and got most of the moldy crumbles out. now everything seems fine. but now i feel like i should throw my whole farm away and start from scratch....i sure don't wanna kill my chickens!

I hate to sound like a broken record,

but if you use apples, cut side up, you will not have a problem with mold. The skin from the apple keeps the bedding from getting moldy. I have been raising mealworms for probably ten years, at least. I had tried potatoes, but the apples work 100% better. You can reach in a grab a handful of mealworms just on top of the cut apple.
For dis-believers, try this-- put a potato and an apple in, see what works better!

Jen