Mealworm farming

[hannakat]

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IMO -With 40 chickens...I'd start with at least 2000.

 

[hannakat]

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The beetles like to dig into the substrate. I keep the substrate at least 1" in the 3-drawer and 3-4" in the single bin. They do lay their eggs on the feed in the substrate.

I'm also letting the pupa morph into beetles before moving them. I had been keeping the pupa separated but there were too many deformed beetles so now they're staying in with the worms until they are beetles. I'm down to just a couple dozen worms now in the bottom drawer. When they are beetles, I'm gonna take the oldest container of worms out of the fridge and put them in the bottom drawer. By the time they become beetles, the beetles in the top drawer should be dead.

Once my baby mealies aren't so small (still haven't seen any) then they're going into the single bin with the rest. The timing should be such that most of the beetles in the big bin are dead. And the cycle repeats itself!!! YEA!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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I haven't even opened my 50# bag of wheat bran yet. I need to but haven't gotten that far. I still have a big container of oats I brought up from the barn but I guess I could feed that to the Guinea Pigs. They love it, too.
I do see some black beetles now that I moved the newspaper. They do like to hide. It is pretty dark in the tub since it is a dark blue and partially covered. I did put the newspaper in for them to hide under though.

I almost fell off my chair laughing about your beetle with the raging hormones!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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I do not think I have the beetle substrate deep enough so I will add more. I had wanted to put screen on the bottom of the beetle bin but never got there and needed to get some stuff done.

So are you saying the deformed beetles are from being moved? I guess I need to look closer at the black beetles or even the brown ones. Gotta find those reading glasses for that.

Sounds like you have a good system in place!

 

[MattMansChickens]

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so you feed the meal worms to the chickens?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

You know what I wish we could do?
I wish I could offer a prize to the first person that posts a photo of two baby chicks playing tug of war with a meal worm!
I can't think of anything great that I have unless someone wants hatching eggs. But then, most of my breeding hens are about to molt or have gone broody. They are killing me! I have orders to fill and the blasted girls won't lay any more! Maybe offer the girls meal worms in trade for eggs!

Let me check in to it but I may be able to offer a gift certificate to the BYC store as a prize for the first photo.
Or should there be some other thing like the BEST photo of two (or more) chicks playing tug of war with a meal worm.
OR maybe just the best photo of baby chicks with meal worms. Wouldn't want to limit ourselves on cuteness! Someone may snap a photo of a chick with a huge meal worm hanging from it's mouth, like a mustache.

Help me out...what do you all think?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Okay, I can do a gift certificate! Is a $20 one okay?

However, I am still up in the air about how to do a cool contest. Share your ideas and we will do one on another thread, perhaps.

For now let us talk about this so I can get your feed back.

Maybe have a set time as some of you are probably right now out throwing the last of your meal worms to the chicks and having the camera at the ready for a great shot. Sweating bullets wanting to win that great gift certificate!

I am horrid at organizing something like this but can provide a prize to promote cuteness and meal worms!

 

[makoman]

I've been watching some you tube videos on mealworms... seems pretty easy this is the set up I like and will get going on it

 

[ralleia]

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Yes, you feed them to your chickens, or to your wild birds if you like to do birding. I might mix some freeze-dried ones into my bird suet, as well as figuring out a feeder.

I've even read that some people cook them into treats to eat them themselves--EEEEEEEEEEEK!

 

[sadies chicks]

THEY CAME! THEY CAME!

MY WORMIES ARE HERE!!!

Finally.

sheesh.

Aren't they purrrdy??? One is already heading to the pupae stage