Hello Everyone at BYC!

MaryPoopins5 · Jun 9, 2022

rjmyooper said:
I have a basement, but I'm also an amputee so the stairs are a problem when I'm carrying something.
How did you and Mom get started? Is there a website?

I got mine from my mom's stockpile but she ordered them from "Uncle Jim's Worm Farm." I have mine in a rolling 3 drawer storage container. I poured some chicken crumbles in(she specified medication free but I just told them what I needed at the feed store and didn't save the bag) and I cut potatoes in half and put 2-3 halves in each drawer and currently waiting for the magic to happen. My mom just told me if you stop adding potatoes they will go dormant and come back when you add more. Mine seemed to go dormant during the coldest month of the year here but it very well may have been because my potatoes were too dried out so I might would play with the placement and see if they really need a warm area. I normally pull out a handful and put them in a small container or Ziploc bag to carry to the chickens. I'm not sure how easy it is for you to get up and down the stairs even will small things but I hope you have great success with it if you decide to give it a go!

MaryPoopins5 · Jun 9, 2022

Boppo said:
There was a useful article here on BYC that talked about setting up a 3 tier station using a Sterilite 3 drawer file holder.

You put the start out with mealworms you buy live and put those in the top level. They will progress through pupae and become beetles. The beetles will mate and lay eggs.

This top layer is supposed to have the bottom cut out and replaced with screen, so the tiny eggs and larvae fall out into the next drawer down. It's supposed to reduce cannibalism, and improve your worm productions.

The worms grow in the middle drawer and turn into pupae, which you pull out and put into the bottom drawer. It was recommended to set the pupae up on little boxes so when they hatched into beetles they would fall off the boxes, and not eat the other pupae up. You grab the new beetles and move them up to the top box and start the cycle over again.

In practice, I found that mice were climbing into the drawers. They look nice and tight until you run your fingers around and discover that there are gaps around the edges that mice can climb in. They ate all the mealworms, pupae and beetles that were down in that set up.

Now, I just have one drawer that is enclosed with a heavier cover where mice cannot get in. It still has plenty of ventilation. My worms/beetles are near a window, east facing so it doesn't get too much sun, in my house. I have only had 2 beetles escape, when I was fiddling with the egg crate I put in for them to hide under. The beetles are not very fast and really were easy to catch and return to the box.

I feed mine with wheat bran, and use carrot pieces to give them moisture. I pull out mummified carrots when I put in the fresh carrots or harvest dead or live beetles/worms/pupae for the birds. I don't use that many. The birds get maybe a couple beetles a week among 4 chickens and the same among 7 quail. I dig out dead bug bits more for the quail to supplement their game bird feed and up their protein a bit.

That's such an interesting idea. It seemed like they would only gang up on 1 or 2 mealworms in my mom's setup but I can't help but feel sorry for them even though I'm using them for chicken snacks!

I may consider this, I'm not sure I'll have the patience to continuously pick through 2 drawers. The black fly larvae were the stinky ones for me, I don't notice much of a smell from the mealworms unless I'm dragging my fingers through the feed for a while searching for big juicy ones. That may change when I have a larger amount. They're my house bugs though and I'm hoping the occasional field mouse that gets in the house won't cause problems!