First attempt at mealworm farming

[LovePBandJ]

Wow! New to backyard chickens. They love meal worms! I can see my new project starting! Searching the house today for a few old bins and a screen.

Can these be kept outside? I live along the California coast. It doesn’t freeze, but can get chilly.

How long do the beetles live? Do you try to allow some of the eggs to grow to a beetle to keep a healthy adult population?

I’ve enjoyed your post!

 

[Perris]

Can these be kept outside?

I don't know; but I do know they breed faster in warmer temperatures.

How long do the beetles live?

About 3 months. This is a good site for the lifecycle https://mealwormcare.org/life-cycle/

Do you try to allow some of the eggs to grow to a beetle to keep a healthy adult population?

Yes, that's how it's kept going all this time. And I just added some new blood, as described in latest posts.

I'm glad you're found the thread useful; don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions.

 

[Soujrnr]

My wife and I are almost done building our coop, and then we also want to raise mealworms for the girls. My understanding is that I can make a bed of wheat bran for them. I have a couple of questions about that. First, how much do I need, and second, when should I change it (or add more...however that works)?

 

[Perris]

My wife and I are almost done building our coop, and then we also want to raise mealworms for the girls. My understanding is that I can make a bed of wheat bran for them. I have a couple of questions about that. First, how much do I need, and second, when should I change it (or add more...however that works)?

You want the bran to be a couple of inches deep. The mealworms live in it and eat it; over time they will transform it into a sort of fine sand (called frass, which you can use as an organic fertilizer and soil conditioner in your garden). You will need to add more bran as and when the mealworms you've got have eaten whatever you provided initially - you will be able to judge on sight with a little stir, as the frass sinks to the bottom and the inedible husks in the bran rises to the top.

 

[Soujrnr]

You want the bran to be a couple of inches deep. The mealworms live in it and eat it; over time they will transform it into a sort of fine sand (called frass, which you can use as an organic fertilizer and soil conditioner in your garden). You will need to add more bran as and when the mealworms you've got have eaten whatever you provided initially - you will be able to judge on sight with a little stir, as the frass sinks to the bottom and the inedible husks in the bran rises to the top.

Thank you for the information! What is the best place to buy bran? I did see it on Amazon (what ISN'T on Amazon?), but I only looked there for a reference point as to how much I might spend for it. Is it something that is better attained from a specific type of feed store?

 

[ChickChick2121]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it here or not but you need to separate the beetles from the rest. They will eat the other life stages.

 

[Perris]

Thank you for the information! What is the best place to buy bran? I did see it on Amazon (what ISN'T on Amazon?), but I only looked there for a reference point as to how much I might spend for it. Is it something that is better attained from a specific type of feed store?

I get it by the 20kg sack from a feed store that has equine supplies; the typical pet food shop here doesn't carry it, and because it's very bulky, shipping costs can be high. I would ring round locally before setting out; it took me quite a while to track it down locally.

Currently I'm paying about £15 a sack. How long it will last will depend on the size of your farm, but I wouldn't buy more than you could use in a year max, because it will be losing nutrients the whole time. If you get more than your mealworms could eat in that time, you can also give it to your chickens, ideally mixed with enough milk to make a crumble, about 4 hours before feeding (to reduce the anti-nutritional factors in straight wheat bran). It contains a good quantity of protein, plus some minerals, and lots of fibre, and my flock loves it as an occasional supplement.

 

[Perris]

Since reading some papers on the effect of the mealworms' diet on their nutritional quality (they are what they eat, like the rest of us, of course), and the relative ease by which their diet can be manipulated to improve their figures and supplement omissions on pure bran and some veggie trimmings, I started to add a handful of dried dog food to the bran every now and then (dog food in the UK has to pass all the same quality thresholds as human foodstuffs, so this is compliant with human food chain rules here). The way the larvae gobble them up was immediately encouraging.

As the first generation on this enhanced diet are now emerging as beetles, it appears to have made a significant difference: fewer have died in larval and pupal stages, and I think the beetles are a little larger too (though that's just an impression; I haven't been measuring them).

 

[Ital]

Since reading some papers on the effect of the mealworms' diet on their nutritional quality (they are what they eat, like the rest of us, of course), and the relative ease by which their diet can be manipulated to improve their figures and supplement omissions on pure bran and some veggie trimmings, I started to add a handful of dried dog food to the bran every now and then (dog food in the UK has to pass all the same quality thresholds as human foodstuffs, so this is compliant with human food chain rules here). The way the larvae gobble them up was immediately encouraging.

As the first generation on this enhanced diet are now emerging as beetles, it appears to have made a significant difference: fewer have died in larval and pupal stages, and I think the beetles are a little larger too (though that's just an impression; I haven't been measuring them).

I’ve just started with my first bucket of worms, very excited about it, they take up so little space.
Mine have also been getting dog biscuits but seem to prefer the lentils.
Is it such a problem getting mold in there? What’s the risk? They seem to be eating the mouldy bits first.
I’ve ordered some calcium enriched water gel to feed the crickets so was thinking of using that instead of veg as water source to stop the mould but maybe mould is not a problem?

 

[Perris]

I’ve just started with my first bucket of worms, very excited about it, they take up so little space.
Mine have also been getting dog biscuits but seem to prefer the lentils.
Is it such a problem getting mold in there? What’s the risk? They seem to be eating the mouldy bits first.
I’ve ordered some calcium enriched water gel to feed the crickets so was thinking of using that instead of veg as water source to stop the mould but maybe mould is not a problem?

what sort of worms do you have? Mealworms, or something else?
It's safer to remove mouldy food from a mealworm substrate if you see or smell it, but I've not had any issues, despite a bit of mould appearing every now and then.