Insect meal at an affordable price?

[annagoodspeed]

Hi, I have been feeding a non gmo fermented feed, wheat/peas plus fishmeal and dried green, for years. I am getting more concerned about the fishmeal (organic Fertrell) due to overharvesting concerns, and would love to substitute a dried insect meal, but having trouble locating, and the five lb bags of “treats” are so expensive. Does anyone have any sources? (Currently ordering 50 lb bags of fishmeal from Concentrates in Oregon). Thanks so much.

 

[Perris]

you could start a mealworm farm: it's almost free, and very easy once you've sourced the initial pack of live mealworms (from an aquatics or reptile pet shop, for example; cost me less than $3) and a sack of bran (cost about $12 here) as their main food/substrate.

For that outlay, plus repurposing a set of plastic drawers, another sack of bran in the autumn, and food waste such as veg peelings, banana skins, cabbage stalks and suchlike (to give the worms a moisture source, and alternate food), my flock has enjoyed live mealworms for a little over a year now, at very little expense to me. It's completely sustainable and reduces my food waste, while growing high quality fresh protein for the chooks.

See https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/first-attempt-at-mealworm-farming.1350136/ if you want to see how I started (and continue) it.

 

[annagoodspeed]

Sorry for the huge delay in replying! I tried the mealworm thing, then started seeing articles about how they eat wood structures, plus have a full plate in terms of projects, so decided not to pursue that route.