First attempt at mealworm farming

[Perris]

Yesterday I bought my first live mealworms and set them up in what I hope will be a suitable mealworm farm. I am starting this thread to chart its progress and share the experience with those thinking of doing the same - and, no doubt, as we go on, to ask for help from those who have already been there, done that! Youtube is great for the initial research stage, but nothing beats Q&As with other people in real time for a proper understanding of something, as Sokrates might have said.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

Yesterday I bought my first live mealworms and set them up in what I hope will be a suitable mealworm farm. I am starting this thread to chart its progress and share the experience with those thinking of doing the same - and, no doubt, as we go on, to ask for help from those who have already been there, done that! Youtube is great for the initial research stage, but nothing beats Q&As with other people in real time for a proper understanding of something, as Sokrates might have said.

Mealworms are always great for chickens, It's too hard to maintain sometimes spacially here in the Philippines, Other coops sometimes eat them 1st.

 

[Perris]

I guess time will tell how hard it is for me here
what do you mean when you say

Other coops sometimes eat them 1st

?

 

[ColoradoPip]

I started two colonies in early January and both appear to be thriving. My plan was to have them ready for the chickens to eat in April/May, giving me a solid 4-5 months to learn, let them do their thing, and get a solid colony started.

1 in a 55 gallon aquarium and 1 in a 20 gallon. They are two different types.

It's very dry here so I run a small humidifier in the room where they live. When I didn't run the humidifier it was ~30% humidity at best and things weren't happening. Once I got it up to ~50% the colonies flourished. On the positive I've had no issues with mold with it being so dry. I also placed them in a room with it's own thermostat so the temps maintain ~65-70.

They have been extremely easy to take care of and mildly interesting to watch. The one thing I'm noticing is the dust. There's a lot more dust lately and it seems heaviest in the room where they reside. In the summer I may move them out into the garage/shop/barn if the dust remains an issue. I did not notice the dust until the last couple of weeks so it's possibly just telling me it's time to change their bedding/substrate out and put it into backup aquariums in case there are eggs. Once the beetles hatch it takes no time for them to start getting busy!!

 

[Perris]

hi @ColoradoPip ! thanks for the encouragement Have you had any pupae yet? What's the difference between the two types you have?

Humidity here is at t'other end of the scale, near 90% a lot of the time. I've put mine in the boiler room to keep them warm and toasty while temps are close to freezing outside and everything is very damp. Mold is something I'll have to watch out for.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Pupae, yes. They arrived as worms mostly (I ordered 5000 so there might have been pupae that I didn't see). After a couple of weeks, and lots of molting, a few pupae started appearing. Then lots and lots and lots of pupae. Then a few beetles popped up. I'm sure more than I knew because they like to hang below the surface. Now there are 1000s of beetles. I expect to have my first generation worms any time in the coming week or three. They are cycling a lot faster than I expected! I thought it would be 3-4 months before the first hatch, I'm on track for ~2 months if I start seeing them in the next week or two.

Yes pay close attention to the mold situation.

The second type of mealworm is darker. According to the website they are Tenebrio obscurus where as the other ones are Tenebrio molitor.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Raising my own meal-worms for the duck is one thing i am planning to do since i have them…

 

[Perris]

I'm on track for ~2 months if I start seeing them in the next week or two.

wow! that's quick!
so are you leaving them in the same tank through all stages? the youtube videos I saw picked them out as they went into the next stage and moved them on to a separate tank, so one tank of worms, one of pupae, one of adults beetles, and the eggs from them periodically separated by sieving out the adults and putting them into another tank.

 

[Isaac 0]

Raising my own meal-worms for the duck is one thing i am planning to do since i have them…

Not if you want ducks breaking in your house in the middle of the night, looking for the stache.

 

[ColoradoPip]

wow! that's quick!
so are you leaving them in the same tank through all stages? the youtube videos I saw picked them out as they went into the next stage and moved them on to a separate tank, so one tank of worms, one of pupae, one of adults beetles, and the eggs from them periodically separated by sieving out the adults and putting them into another tank.

That's too much work for me.

Based on my reading, you do not need to separate them as long as they have the proper amount of food and hydration. Just like with keeping chickens or any animals, food, water, and shelter, as long as those are good, the animals generally get along

I do have enough tanks to do this but do not want to maintain 6 tanks!! 2 is much easier