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.

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

thanks alot, i got my start from the pet store....do you think those are o.k.????????????????

 

[Intheswamp]

chickbird, I think the worms you got from the pet store are probably fine. Especially after they've passed food through their bodies a few times...kind of a "cleansing" process.

Ed

 

[IggiMom]

My worms came from Sillybird yesterday, all wiggly and healthy!

I want to raise some but I gave some to the chicks. Had a hard time making myself pick them up.

The chicks went berserk over them.

I know you are not supposed to give them in the coop, but I have a hard time believing that anything got away from those chicks!

Catherine

 

[redhen]

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

yeah..i'm going to put some apples in this week..they sound MUCH better!!

 

[MsPony]

I didnt see this asked, so forgive me if its was.

Would the chicks like/can eat the beetles? Im raising superworms currently...

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Here is a quote from "Canadian Poultry Magazine" regarding this (click on the quote to go to the article...somewhat graphic). I don't think I would feed the beetles to the chicks...

However, in addition to the above defined problems, we recently discovered that darkling beetles may be a direct cause of chick mortality. The cases presented here add yet another harmful effect of beetle infestation, namely apparently lethal toxic effect on poultry.

Best wishes,
Ed​

 

[BriteChicken]

Quote:
Here is a quote from "Canadian Poultry Magazine" regarding this (click on the quote to go to the article...somewhat graphic). I don't think I would feed the beetles to the chicks...

However, in addition to the above defined problems, we recently discovered that darkling beetles may be a direct cause of chick mortality. The cases presented here add yet another harmful effect of beetle infestation, namely apparently lethal toxic effect on poultry.

Best wishes,
Ed​

just did that in my office trashcan Blah! Never feeding beetles!!!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
Nope, not a thread of mine.

Search is getting better, but we still have about 1/3 or threads that aren't indexed... hopefully we'll get those don in the next few days.

 

[IggiMom]

Quote:
Nope, not a thread of mine.

Search is getting better, but we still have about 1/3 or threads that aren't indexed... hopefully we'll get those don in the next few days.

You are right, search is getting better. I have searched on a couple of things recently, and have FOUND them! Unlike last year, when it usually didn't work for me.

I did not realize that this was because someone was working on it, and not just coincidence.

So, thanks.

Catherine (IggiMom)

 

[Penturner]

Lots of posts on this subject since I read it last. sort of took a couple of turns.

On Apples. Apples are the only thing i have used in my cultures that have caused Mold. I use potato and carrots, carrots never cause a problem but potatoes need to be removed after about 3 days or mold will start on the potato itself. Apples not only mold in as little as 24 hours but the mold will start spreading through the bedding very quickly. I have attempted to use apples three times with different methods and all have resulted in mold starting in the bedding. I do have beetles and cannot loose the egg laden bedding.
From what I have read mold in the culture will kill the eggs and larva. I did have one instance where a drop or two of water dripped into the litter. the beetles flocked to it and started eating that wet bedding like crazy. I thought it was interesting at the very least.

As for the article on beetles spreading diseases. Keep in mind that mealworms are a pest when it comes to feed stores etc. there is a huge difference in a worm you raised in a culture for the purpose of feeding to your chickens and the ones that might get introduced in a bag of feed that came from who knows where and has eaten who knows what. Mealworms have been cultured for feeding to other animals for many many years. the only thing I have ever heard about what the worms eat getting to those animals is to feed the worms certain food to make them more nutritious when they are eaten by your pet later. This is also a good reason to have your worms grown in a quality bedding int he first place. Keep in mind your are growing "feed" and feed can go bad. even living food.

Superworms: It does not take much of a search into keeping a mealworm culture to find information on Superworms. for the most part they are not the same critter. there are some reports that they can actually harm the animals they are being fed to. and finally most if not all are sterile. in some cases they are artificially grown so large with Hormones. At any rate i personally will not try to grow them.

I have also heard that mealworm beetles, at least the ones purchased at pet shops, are flightless. that does not mean all types of Darkling beetles are though.