Mealworm farming

[WestKnollAmy]

That is so wonderful! Yours are really going to town.

I forget to feed mine every day or even every other day and when I do look in they are so many crawling all over each other I have to scoop them out and take them down to the brooders. I definitely have enough to start freezing but I have babies in brooders that would enjoy them and I am still trying to encourage the keets to eat from my hand (no go there!)

Today I tried using a new sifter bowl I got. I was able to sift little worms and possibly eggs back into the bin. I only scooped out of one bin and after I had sifted out a good many I lifted a corner of the newspaper and was able to grab up handfuls of these things! Amazing!

Here is one of the bins after getting gobs of wormies out.

Off to the barn to make my kids love me!

 

[hannakat]

WHOA ~ Amy! Where'd they all come from?

The chickadees sure do get possessive of the hand that holds the worm. It's a real trial making sure everyone gets a few. I'm getting my Gabby girl through a terrible molt with these wormies...that and a few other things. yummmmo!

 

[appychick]

Amazing ! What is the timeframe from starting the worm project to adult worms ?

 

[ipana]

I haven't read this whole thread so if I'm asking a question that's already been answered, please indulge me.

I started with mealworms in May and they are doing great. However, a situation from my neighbor has created some concerns in feeding live worms to my chickens. Here's the story:

A chimney sweep made a nest in the neighbor's chimney. One of the little birds apparently fell out of the nest and landed on their fireplace insert. Somehow, my neighbor was able to get it out and was trying to keep it alive. She fed it all kinds of stuff and it was doing well. She called the agricultural extension agency and asked about meal worms and they said NOT to feed live mealworms because they would eat the crop! Needless to say, I was concerned. Does anyone have any links or information about this? Or, are people freezing the worms to feed them before feeding and I just didn't catch that was what should be done?

Any info or help on this would be great. Don't want to hurt the girls, you know.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Nope, never came up. Have you tried googling it? I know they need grit with mealworms but to make this kind of claim, please supply us with links so it's not just hanging out there as an 'he said', 'she said' kind of thing.

TX!

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Top of this page has my timeline. You buy the adult mealworms, let them pupate and then morph into beetles. It's the beetles that lay the eggs somewhere between 200-600 per female beetle. Takes about 3 months give or take for temperatures.

Hope this helps!

 

[hannakat]

Because incomplete and possibly inacurate information really BUGS (!!!HEEEhee) me, here's what I found. Looks like that agricultural extension agent needs to do some research before giving advice.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5817618_feed-mealworms-baby-birds.html

Mealworms are an important part of a bird's diet. Mealworms give a bird nutritional value of more than 50 percent protein. Adult birds have no problem eating mealworms, but baby birds will need it fed to them until they learn to eat on their own. Nestling birds are 10 to 14 days old and fledgling birds are two to five weeks old. To gage the age of a baby bird can be difficult, but look at the size of its bill. Baby birds have large bills that seem too big for the head of the bird. Nestlings have little hair, but fledglings will have most of their feathers with the tail and wing feathers noticeably shorter than the rest. Feeding a baby bird mealworms requires time and patience since they eat several times an hour

Instructions:
1 Crush the mealworms. A nestling bird can be fed crushed mealworms through an eye dropper. To make it easier to feed the nestling bird, purchase mini mealworms, which are smaller than the average sized mealworm by one-third. Crush the mini mealworm and mix with some water to make it easier for the nestling bird to swallow.

2 Feed the fledgling bird. Chop the mealworms or give a whole mini mealworm. Feed the baby bird with plastic tweezers or place the insect on the tip of a straw or stick. Put the food toward the back of the mouth for the bird to start eating.

3 Make sure that you feed the baby bird every 15 to 30 minutes. Try to feed at the same time each day. For example, if you feed every 15 minutes one day, do not change to every 30 minutes the next day; otherwise the baby bird may refuse to eat.



Read more: How to Feed Mealworms to Baby Birds | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5817618_feed-mealworms-baby-birds.html#ixzz1WSx26oLj

 

[ipana]

Thanks, hannacat. I'm going to be sure to let the neighbor know. She has chickens, too, so we can both relax as our girls enjoy their new meal ticket!

 

[galanie]

I wish that whoever started the whole idea that mealworms would bite a baby bird's crop would stop it, already. Does not happen. Ever. No idea why that got started. I'm not saying anything bad about anyone for asking, because I heard that too at first and also wondered. I just wish misinformation like this didn't exist.

 

[new world]

I have started up a meal worm farm because my hubby was complaining they are too expensive to buy for my girls who aren't laying yet........

but I get so much pleasure watching the girls devour them. I live in a remote area so when I visit a shopping area I have been buying them from a pet shop. I have quite a lot of them (not sure how many) and I have set them up in a drawer system (that used to be used to store my shoes but the girls are more important to me). I have put the mealworms in with some bran and have been giving them apple, potato and carrot at different times (I can't believe how they eat through the veges, especially carrots). I am finding it all a bit squeamish to deal with them yet and my friends think I am insane but I would do anything for my girls. I am hoping I will have a nice productive colony of mealworms in a few months and as I am unable to let my girls free range and they don't seem to like worms yet, I feed them the mealworms every night before I say good night.

How I love and spoil my girls EVEN with them not giving me any eggs yet. They are about 19 weeks now.