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I would throw in some substrate and let them grow till they are big enough to strain out.
I would throw in some substrate and let them grow till they are big enough to strain out.
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Mealworm farming
- Thread starter hannakat
- Start date
WestKnollAmy had the same problem. Contact her. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=9332
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Perhaps this was covered earlier, but the write ups I've seen mention that mealworms like to be kept warm and we live in a cold part of the country (Northwestern Washington). Its almost never 72 degrees, even in summer. We don't even keep the house that warm.
Any hope?
Any hope?
What size are the hole openings on the screen for the first drawer? HELP on this!!!!
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Absolutely, if you keep them inside and you keep the inside of your home warmer then the refrigerator they will grow, just more slowly. But you can always add heat to their area alone in the form of a lightbulb. Just put your bin in a cabinet and put an incandescent (old fashioned regular bulb, not florescent) inside the cabinet. It doesn't even need to be very big wattage wise, my dubias do fine w/ a 35 watt it keeps there little home right at 90' F Depending on the cabinet and the ambient temps of the house you may need to play w/ bulb size, and or line the inside of the cabinet w/ sheet styrofoam.
Oh and I use a red bulb for the dubia's since they are photophobic, but I don't think light matters much to the mealies either way. I would also add a bit of moisture b/c the light source will dry the area signifcantly, a moist sponge in a bowl or something like that.
Absolutely, if you keep them inside and you keep the inside of your home warmer then the refrigerator they will grow, just more slowly. But you can always add heat to their area alone in the form of a lightbulb. Just put your bin in a cabinet and put an incandescent (old fashioned regular bulb, not florescent) inside the cabinet. It doesn't even need to be very big wattage wise, my dubias do fine w/ a 35 watt it keeps there little home right at 90' F Depending on the cabinet and the ambient temps of the house you may need to play w/ bulb size, and or line the inside of the cabinet w/ sheet styrofoam.
Oh and I use a red bulb for the dubia's since they are photophobic, but I don't think light matters much to the mealies either way. I would also add a bit of moisture b/c the light source will dry the area signifcantly, a moist sponge in a bowl or something like that.
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I haven't tried it, but a reptile heat rock should do , too.
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WestKnollAmy
The Crazy Chicken Lady
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Hey! Never would have thought about that! What a grand idea.
If anyone tries it, please let me know if it works.
I have so many bins that I can't put them all in my closet for the winter and I know the den will be much too cold for them. Our only other option is to move them into the living room in front of our south windows but rearranging my house full of junk (my egg business has taken over!) would be a royal pain. It may come to that though as I want to keep the mealies growing and multiplying as much as possible. The locals are all on a waiting list for winter wild bird feeding.
Hey! Never would have thought about that! What a grand idea.
If anyone tries it, please let me know if it works.
I have so many bins that I can't put them all in my closet for the winter and I know the den will be much too cold for them. Our only other option is to move them into the living room in front of our south windows but rearranging my house full of junk (my egg business has taken over!) would be a royal pain. It may come to that though as I want to keep the mealies growing and multiplying as much as possible. The locals are all on a waiting list for winter wild bird feeding.
WestKnollAmy
The Crazy Chicken Lady
Well, I just went through one of my overcrowded and very full of warm frass bin and measured up all the mealies. That was a lot of sifting! I left the frass and tiny babies but took out all the paper and peels so eggs could be transferred to the new bin going into my closet.
If you all remember, DH and I had a bet going on how many were in that bin.........I won! There were well over 10,000 in that bin and still more tiny babies crawling around that I could not get up on the spoon. I got tired! That was a lot of work. Now I need to rest before I take a few cups out to my chickies.
I still have a lot more bins full of worms and I know one other bin has to be sifted through as the frass has gotten deep in there, too. I will do as the other poster suggested and just leave the little tykes in the bins until they grow a bit more. Probably another 2 weeks and I can sift through again and then maybe start getting the frass out.
I thought perhaps, too that I may try a few experiments on getting the frass and teeny tiny worms to separate but for now I am going to put in pieces of apple and let them climb onto that and move them to a new bin as best I can.
DH is now thinking our green house is going to be a good place for these guys next spring but I think it is too wet out there for them. Warm is good, too wet is not. Not to mention the mice are good about getting in even with a black block floor.
DH keeps throwing out ideas trying to help. I do appreciate his thinking in the matter.
If you all remember, DH and I had a bet going on how many were in that bin.........I won! There were well over 10,000 in that bin and still more tiny babies crawling around that I could not get up on the spoon. I got tired! That was a lot of work. Now I need to rest before I take a few cups out to my chickies.
I still have a lot more bins full of worms and I know one other bin has to be sifted through as the frass has gotten deep in there, too. I will do as the other poster suggested and just leave the little tykes in the bins until they grow a bit more. Probably another 2 weeks and I can sift through again and then maybe start getting the frass out.
I thought perhaps, too that I may try a few experiments on getting the frass and teeny tiny worms to separate but for now I am going to put in pieces of apple and let them climb onto that and move them to a new bin as best I can.
DH is now thinking our green house is going to be a good place for these guys next spring but I think it is too wet out there for them. Warm is good, too wet is not. Not to mention the mice are good about getting in even with a black block floor.
DH keeps throwing out ideas trying to help. I do appreciate his thinking in the matter.
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I am planning on trying my hand at raising mealworms for my Hubby (fishing) & chickens (eating). I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, so I have a similar situation as you. I have a cabinet above my hot water heater that is warmer than most of the house, so that is where I plan to put the boxes.
Hopefully that is a suggestion that you can use.
I am planning on trying my hand at raising mealworms for my Hubby (fishing) & chickens (eating). I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, so I have a similar situation as you. I have a cabinet above my hot water heater that is warmer than most of the house, so that is where I plan to put the boxes.
Hopefully that is a suggestion that you can use.
I have a small reptile heater that we used for the hermit crabs (rip). It's about 4" square. Is it ok to put those on a plastic box?
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