mealworm farm

[karhernandez33]

Thats cool .. thanks

 

[rottnwarrior]

Raising mealworms and how you go about it is really more about what you feel like doing. I've done the three tiered bins with screen which are fun but kind of nerve wracking when you think about what you might lose when you only open one of the drawers. What works best for me is just throw them all in a big tote with oatmeal, wheat bran, cornmeal or any combo of the three and leave them alone. I throw some celery or carrot in now and then and pay attention to how fast they get rid of it so I know how much to add next time. When I have a lot in there I can slice up a few apples and they vanish in a day. I went to petco to get my first ones and they did fine. I even had great results with the giant mealworms. Superworms however are a pain and got fed to the chickens. I have more than I would even care to count now.

 

[karhernandez33]

I have the three drawers but only use the top two.I have a lid to separate the beetles and pupa . Your way Sound easy.

 

[rottnwarrior]

My way is very easy! Set it and forget it basically. I don't heat them. I just put them someplace out of the way that's warm like in the attic and let them do what they do. I clean out the dead beetles when I'm bored n give them to the chickens.

 

[rottnwarrior]

Resist the urge to feed the worms off to chicks until you have a ton. Or you could run out fast. Depending on the temperature it could take some time. That's why I just put them out of the way and don't think about it. And I started out with about 5000 or so.

 

[karhernandez33]

85 beetles now...I think 1 mealworm left and 3 pupa left ...now its time to wait more ...

 

[ChickNanny13]

I started my mealworm colony Aug 21st with a 1000 in a single plastic bin using wheat bran. In a weeks started seeing pupas, then beetles. Now I got a whole lot of pupa & beetles galore, hardly any mealworms. Reading about moisture, I lay brown paper on the wheat bran, putting veggies, fruit, crushed egg shells on the paper. The mealworm/beetles eat through the paper as well as crawl up on to eat. I never know if they get enough as I change out the "food" every few days.

Today I was going to separate the beetles from any remaining mealworms, thinking it would be "easier" but after reading rottnwarrior post and trying, I gave up. Single bin it will be. I've put some empty paper rolls in the bin, find the beetles all congregate under the paper and the wheat bran under it sunken in...assuming it's being eaten?

It's a good thing the "farm" doesn't need much care, makes the waiting "easier". With more beetles than mealworms now, I'm hoping I'm doing this right. Dumped some rolled oat into the wheat bran today, found my chickens love the oats more than the freeze dried mealworms. Hope they like the live mealworms.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

 

[karhernandez33]

don't know if you can see them ... but I got babies..yah

 

[Kelsie2290]

Yup, see lots of little creepy crawlys, your chickens are waiting, tell the bugs to hurry up and grow.

 

[dgermanshepherd]

I just started a colony as well. But I don't have any beetles yet. My chickens are going to be thrilled in a month or two. I keep mine in the furnace room, its pretty warm and dark.