mealworm farm

[mendozer]

i see it takes some work to make beetles out of the worms. if i just want to throw a few worms into my hens area every couple days, can i just throw some live worms into substrate and drop from kitchen scraps in there? i don't want to worry about making them propagate very fast into beetles because i just don't care that much haha. i would see it as "if they're alive, they're goin to the hens"

 

[classicsredone]

Whereabouts do you live? I ask because if you don't want to raise meal worms, you could do soldier fly grubs. They lay eggs in compost, and are great composters themselves. During the warm months, all you'd have to do is give the chickens a shovel of compost to pick through. Some people keep the larvae in fancy containers with a ramp for mature larvae to crawl out and self harvest, but it isn't necessary.

 

[mendozer]

im in seattle. i've been wanting to start a compost pile, but its still too cold for one i think. i was going to do the worm farm indoors in my laundry room (if i do it at all)

 

[classicsredone]

You should actually get them in the summer. I know that they are active in the Bay Area, and that's a pretty similar climate during the warmer months. Worm bins are great, too. Unless you have a big set up it won't fill all of the protein needs, but it is great for treats. Watching the chickens play keep away with worms is hilarious.

 

[mendozer]

yeah it would be for treats. I'll be giving them a mixture of homemade feed mix (using online recipe which supposedly is good) with kitchen scraps and worms. They'll also be in a tractor so whatever they find is theres to eat. I don't expect much "food" in my backyard, but they're free to try.