Does anyone vermicompost?

[goatranch]

I am kinda new to BYC chat, but have read posts everyday for a long time. I have a chicken addiction as does most everyone on this site. I started vermicomposting to provide my beautiful birds with worms year round. Vermicomposting starts a whole other hobby in itself. Unfortunately it is a hobby that most people are grossed out by. I am looking for anyone else who enjoys vermocomposting. I am now looking into adding a grub bucket for "biogrubs". I would like to hear from anyone else with any info or stories.

 

[Boyd]

I do, I use euro crawlers, and they eat everything organic with the exception of meat products and heavy oils

 

[Goose and Fig]

We just compost- poop and vegetable scraps galore with all these birds and alpacas. I just dug out the bottom of one of the bins to make a new raised bed- I could not believe how many big worms and huge grubs (dung beatles maybe?) were in there! Anyway- I let the hens have a field day in the box before I put fencing around it(I kept some of the worms though). They were in seventh heaven- and now I don't have to worry about grubs! Usually when I find worms I put them in a fenced box so the birds can't eat them all. Gotta have some for the garden!

 

[NJfarmer]

I have a question. My vermicompost setup is indoors using a rubbermaid bin. I've had the worms since the summer and would like to clean out the bin and put new bedding in it. Anyone have any recommendations for what to do with the worm poop as for as storing it is concerned?

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
I have a stackable system. I would just get more rubbermaid tubs like you have, drill some holes in the bottom so the worms can move up, and put the new bedding up in the top bin. That way they can move up and any eggs that hatch can move to the top too. After a while, you can empty out the bottom bin, spread it out on something to dry out and put it in another container.

I also have a mealworm collection. I found them when I was cleaning out a closet that had dog treats in it and put them in a plastic container with cereal and stuff.

One thing to watch for when you have worms (try saying that phrase to somebody else

) If you are using anything that requires ventilation (like when my husband was doing some plumbing repairs and used PVC glue), if the fumes can hurt you, they can hurt the worms too. Mine died after he did that. I picked up a tray to check on them and they were hanging out of the bottom, dead.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

It's a pretty big deal in the area I live in. Going to start up a box real soon like. Red worms are the worms of choice here.

 

[Mattemma]

I have a plastic tote bin in my laudry room. Kids class was worming and they gave me the bin when they were done. The worms just love old bananas! My frog and toad get the worms.My chickens have to dig for theirs,lol.

 

[NJfarmer]

Quote:
I have a stackable system. I would just get more rubbermaid tubs like you have, drill some holes in the bottom so the worms can move up, and put the new bedding up in the top bin. That way they can move up and any eggs that hatch can move to the top too. After a while, you can empty out the bottom bin, spread it out on something to dry out and put it in another container.

I also have a mealworm collection. I found them when I was cleaning out a closet that had dog treats in it and put them in a plastic container with cereal and stuff.

One thing to watch for when you have worms (try saying that phrase to somebody else

) If you are using anything that requires ventilation (like when my husband was doing some plumbing repairs and used PVC glue), if the fumes can hurt you, they can hurt the worms too. Mine died after he did that. I picked up a tray to check on them and they were hanging out of the bottom, dead.

Could you post a picture of your setup or find one from google? My worms are in my College dorm room and I am very limited on space. The bin I use know just fits under my bed.

 

[NJfarmer]

Quote:
I used a banana before and the house got infested with fruit flies. So I try not to use bananas anymore. I did throw in pumpkins at the end of Halloween and they loved them.

 

[Frosty]

If you maintain a thick layer of newspaper clippings on the top, it really halps cut down on fruit flies. It also helps if you cook the stuff first (just put it in the microwave for a bit.

I got my bin from Happy D Ranch, this was the only model they had at the time but it looks like they have a few other models now: http://store.happydranch.com/Worm_Factory_p/wf.htm Their worm bins have a spigot at the bottom to drain off excess liquids.