Mealworm farming

[Kassaundra]

I'm not OKchickens, but mine is a single bin method, but substrate in put mealies in, put some fruit or veggie in and let nature take it's course. They all stay in the one bin their entire life cycle, or AKA the "Gallo Method"

 

[wolftracks]

If the mold was just on the potato, just take out the potato and then throw the bin to the birds. Shouldn't hurt them one bit.

ETA: Forgot to say this is directed towards wolftracks' question about the mold in the mealie bin.

Thank you. They'll get them tomorrow and then I'm off to buy more. I refuse to lose to a bunch of worms.

 

[onafixedincome]

That's the spirit!

As to 'how much work are they really'....it's not work, it's fun, and I can't seem to keep my hands out of them. They don't seem to mind, either. Overall, it's how much work you want to put into them....I seem to have been bitten by the fascination bug (pardon the pun ) and love sorting through, getting a feel for how they do at various stages and pulling out Snickett Snacks (ie anything at any stage that is dead or doesn't look good or best condition goes to the d'Anvers hen who is now a MAJOR pest about it).

CAUTION ON GIVING MEALWORMS TO CHICKENS:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

FEEDING FRENZY HAZARD

(giggle giggle but not kidding!)

 

[trooper]

I love this.I have been wanting to raise meal worms for a long time and didn't know how.I started reading and hate it that I have to quit for now do to chicken projects.This may have already been asked and sorry if it has,But how many do you give your chickens when you give them as a treat.Also do you scatter them or put them in small piles.This is new to me as well as others.Thanks for all of this info.

 

[trooper]

The way we do our mealworms is we gutload them for about 3 days when they arrive. This entails grinding layena with a little bit of dry milk in a container. I dump the bag in there and feed them for the 3 days. After that I sift them and put them in layers of paper towels into tupperware containers. I store them in the fridge and they last for quite a while.

Would you please tell me what gutload is and how to do it.Is this done so that you can place batches of mealworms into the fridge for future use.Thanks

 

[Kassaundra]

Scatter for sure, have you seen "Animal Planets" Shark Week? Well think shark week w/ beaks.


Gut loading is a practice by many who raise all kinds of feeder insects, it is giving them extremely high nutritous food for about 3-5 days before harvesting, the thinking is it will bump up how nutritios they are for the animal you are feeding them to, since they will have both the normal nutrition plus the "gut" full of high nutrition food.



Yes you can place batches in the fridge they will go dormant and you can keep them there for some time to feed out. If you grow your colony inside a house or an area that has warm enough temps in the winter to keep them growing and happy, you should have a pretty constant supply and may not need to store any.

 

[Marinarawr]

I haven't had any experiences with the preferences of chickens, but in my experience tropical cockroaches are far easier to breed than mealworms. I had a 27 gallon tub that I used to breed them in for geckos. Blaptica dubia is my recommendation because they're larger than some other feeders but still prolific and easy to care for (and they're non-climbing on most glass and plastic surfaces). Another bonus is the higher meat:chitin ratio in the roaches. Get a plastic tub with a lid or a glass aquarium (they're more prolific in the dark though), smear some vaseline around the inside near the top just in case of adventurous babies, layer some clean egg cartons in there, and leave enough room for a feeding area where you'll add veggies and fruits. Some people add a substrate for them to burrow into but the concensus is that it makes collecting feeders and cleaning more troublesome. I found them to be much more feed efficient than mealworms and any smell they produce is earthy in comparison to the funk that I always found mealworms to have. I can't speak with certainty for some of the southern areas of the US but the tropical roach species are non-infesting in any state that has a winter. They're relatively slow in addition to being poor climbers so tossing them in a dish for the chickens would be effective.
Once I get my chickens (this spring or next depending on finances), I'll be starting up with some roaches again. The best place to get them is by joining a forum for insect/frog/lizard enthusiasts and looking in the "for sale or trade" section. Faunaclassifieds is a pretty popular spot...

 

[OkChickens]

Which is what I thought, But my friend says they are to much work. What kind of set up do you have?

I have a 3 bin set up with around 3,500 worms in each bin. About half of my worms are now Pupa. When I start seeing beetles I will get another 3 bin drawer with Wheat Bran as the substrate and separate the beetles into there to lay eggs. I have them right behind my cabinet incubator and hatcher to utilize the heat that they put off through the vent holes. I check on them about every 2-3 days to pick out the dead and replace the veggies. I would eventually like to feed 1-3 cups per day to my chickens. It will be a little while before that happens but about once a week i feed them the dead worms. that is usually 20 or so. VERY EASY AND INEXPENSIVE! I have less than $100 in my colony and I enjoy watching them.

Nate

 

[Tikkajazz94]

I have a 3 bin set up with around 3,500 worms in each bin. About half of my worms are now Pupa. When I start seeing beetles I will get another 3 bin drawer with Wheat Bran as the substrate and separate the beetles into there to lay eggs. I have them right behind my cabinet incubator and hatcher to utilize the heat that they put off through the vent holes. I check on them about every 2-3 days to pick out the dead and replace the veggies. I would eventually like to feed 1-3 cups per day to my chickens. It will be a little while before that happens but about once a week i feed them the dead worms. that is usually 20 or so. VERY EASY AND INEXPENSIVE! I have less than $100 in my colony and I enjoy watching them.

Nate

So If I wanted to start small, I could grab a bin, And just buy 20 some odd from a bait store and work my way up? Would that work?

 

[OkChickens]

20 worm would take a LONG time! All you would need is like a small plastic container like 6'x12' with rolled oats or wheat bran. 20 worms can fit in the palm of you hand. They are very easy to raise!

Nate