Baby Meal worms!!!

[ShaggysGirl]

Yippee We have baby meal worms!

I seen some of the beetles were dieing so I figured I'd sift the beetles out and feed them to the chickens and after I sifted the wheat bran I seen it moving so I looked closer. They are soooo small, I almost needed a microscope to see them.

 

[Lynn57]

Wow! your chickens are going to love you! Maybe you can share how you've done this with the mealworms and what sort of time and space it also takes. Right now I buy them at the petstore, but they are expensive there.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

Quote:
Hi Lynn,
There is a post on here with tuns of details on meal worm raising.
I use two of those 3 draw plastic things and one large one. I got 5000 meal worms on ebay I also started about 20 mega worms. I put them on 2 inches of wheat bran and keep a carrot in for food and moister. They turns into beetles, then when the beetles start to die I sift them out and there are microscopic eggs and baby worms in the wheat. I'll leave some in to turn into beetles and feed the rest to the flock.
This was my first batch. I can't wait for them to get big enough to feed the chicks. I've been buying about 150 mega worms a week for 10.00 at a local reptile shop

 

[Lynn57]

Thanks ShaggysGirl, What temperature are you keeping them in?

I see you have a grey...I also have one!

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
Congratulations on your baby mealies! Do your parrots eat mealworms?

 

[ShaggysGirl]

I just keep them in the basement. I have read the colder the longer it takes for them to breed.
Yep I have a Grey. You know I haven't fed any to the parrots but I bet they would love them

 

[SandyK]

Do they smell? Also, when winter rolls around and the basement gets too cold, where to keep them. That's why I was wondering about the smell.

Sandy

 

[redhen]

Quote:
I honestly dont smell mine. ( but, you DO have to change their substrate sometimes..) I have them in a spare bedroom here. Celler is too cold where i live.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Oohhh, babies. I cannot wait until mine start dying (the beetles I mean) hopefully then I also will see crawlies.

I keep our bugs in a cupboard - no smell. Must admit there are days that I forget they are there.

 

[SunnyD]

When I was a boy I use to raise meal worms for my pet lizards. I raised them in bone meal (which I kept on hand to put on the meat I fed my pet alligator) Now I raise BSF larvae for my chickens and ducks. They grow faster and in a lot larger quantities than my meal worms did. I feed about 2 to 3 cups a day.