Feeding Dried Mealworms

[kittycat1356]

I started MealWorm Farms 2x, each time ended up selling them Discovered the chicks/adults seem to prefer the Freeze Dried Also easier for me

My “farm” is just a critter carrier I forget about constantly and when I remember I add food lol. I rarely harvest from it I just let it do it’s thing. I used to give worms to my porch toads, and they would wait for me by the garage door every night.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I sure am glad to hear they prefer the dried ones, I've been considering making a meal worm farm too, but they love the dried ones so much and it seems like a lot of trouble if they will prefer the dried ones anyway! Maybe I will make a cricket farm instead, they went insane with joy when I gave them a small cricket I found the other day looking forward to summer and all its bugs for them.

 

[kittycat1356]

I sure am glad to hear they prefer the dried ones, I've been considering making a meal worm farm too, but they love the dried ones so much and it seems like a lot of trouble if they will prefer the dried ones anyway! Maybe I will make a cricket farm instead, they went insane with joy when I gave them a small cricket I found the other day looking forward to summer and all its bugs for them.

You could try a cricket farm, but they get real smelly and have lots of requirements. They also readily cannibalize eachother. ( I had frogs when I was younger that I kept crickets for)

Mealworms are very easy to raise, I bought a pack of 500 I think on eBay for 10$~ put them in a critter carrier with 2-3 inches of chicken feed and a handful of dog food. Last year

I just fed them again like a week ago. They also don’t need water. ( if you give them water they love it but it molds up stuff quick and that will kill them so its surprisingly not important)

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

Smelly? I don't want that, that's why I don't want to make one if those maggot dispensers. They will have to stick to what I can catch and mealworm's for now. I live on a farm so there's plenty of wild bugs! I just discovered they love role polys too, (which are a personal nemesis of mine as they eat my potatoes each time I grow them. )

 

[kittycat1356]

Smelly? I don't want that, that's why I don't want to make one if those maggot dispensers. They will have to stick to what I can catch and mealworm's for now. I live on a farm so there's plenty of wild bugs! I just discovered they love role polys too, (which are a personal nemesis of mine as they eat my potatoes each time I grow them. )

Well I kept mine inside, you may be able to make a cricket “habitat” if you’re handy. Like a decent sized wooden box, with some sort of lid and an inch or 2 of dirt.

At one point I got tired of the noise and stink, so I put them in a bath tub outside. ( I put dirt in the bottom and kept the occasional toad in it when I was younger) and they lived in there for a long time and kept a small breeding group, i put grass seed in there and occasional vegetable scraps and wild debris like fallen leaves and small sticks.
It didn’t stink outside, and I kept old window panes on top to keep out rain and predators like spiders and cats lol.

But I still think mealworms are easier and better to raise. My chickens love the expired darkling beetles, I can pull out my little mealworm cage and take out all the beetles that died, and it doesn’t hurt my population at all lol.