Mealworm farming

[OkChickens]

Out of control?! US!?!??? I surely hope so!

For the worms, I agree that 3-4 inches of bran bedding works great as long as there is plenty of room for them to spread out and eat and move. But...for the beetles...they, too, are looking much happier in their new 'home'--about 8 inches of bran in a 24x30-or-so tall storage container. There are beetles at all levels in the box from top to bottom, too, breeding and feeding and active, so I have to conclude that it's as successful as any other method.

You use 8" of bran for your beetles? how many do you have in there approx? That's crazy!!! Have you sifted them out yet?

Nate

 

[Kassaundra]

Oh, no!! I am so sorry to hear that--they didn't go for the dubias, did they? Yes, rodents love mealies and beetles too. Know someone who feeds both to their pet rats and mice...

Hugs and rooting for zillllllions of eggs!

No I've always had a cover for the dubias, and even w/o a cover I don't think they could get in (but I'm not going to tempt it), it will stay covered. I was dissappointed over the loss of the mealies, I would have been devastated over loosing the dubias!!!

I put some sliced bread in each bin and was able to lure more itty bitty mealies then I thought were left. The lubbed up (vasolined) lids are in place so starting over again, they are in a warm cabinat so hopefully I'll have enough to feed out by winter.

 

[gale65]

For those that feed celery to their worms, here is an interesting article on regrowing celery.
http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/re-growing-celery/
I'm going to try it.

 

[OkChickens]

For those that feed celery to their worms, here is an interesting article on regrowing celery.
http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/re-growing-celery/
I'm going to try it.

What would the weather need to be like in order to do that? How many times could I keep regrowing it?

Nate

 

[G-Man]

For those that feed celery to their worms, here is an interesting article on regrowing celery.
http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/re-growing-celery/
I'm going to try it.

That is so cool! I had no idea; definitely going to try this one! Thanks for the great tip Gale!

 

[onafixedincome]

You use 8" of bran for your beetles? how many do you have in there approx? That's crazy!!! Have you sifted them out yet?

Nate

There's right about 2400 beetles in there; I don't think I'd go with more than 2500 in that size container with that much bedding; this is something of an experiment to see how the cubic inches/beetle affect larva production. I plan to move the beetles on to another identical container in about a month, then again, so I have 3 bins of (hopefully) well-egged bedding to watch as they hatch and grow. Then I'll vary one thing and do it again...and again...and again.... No reason you can't have fun researching your mealie production while you make chicken treats, now is there?

The 8" of bran was actually about twice what I'd started with, but I looked at the housing density and just couldn't leave it that way once I saw how actively they were headed through the bran and hitting the bottom. So I dumped in the rest of the bag, and we'll see what happens.

 

[OkChickens]

There's right about 2400 beetles in there; I don't think I'd go with more than 2500 in that size container with that much bedding; this is something of an experiment to see how the cubic inches/beetle affect larva production. I plan to move the beetles on to another identical container in about a month, then again, so I have 3 bins of (hopefully) well-egged bedding to watch as they hatch and grow. Then I'll vary one thing and do it again...and again...and again.... No reason you can't have fun researching your mealie production while you make chicken treats, now is there?

The 8" of bran was actually about twice what I'd started with, but I looked at the housing density and just couldn't leave it that way once I saw how actively they were headed through the bran and hitting the bottom. So I dumped in the rest of the bag, and we'll see what happens.

I have about 4,000 Beetles in a Drawer win about 2-3 inches of wheat bran and they are doing great! I will get the measurements in a few minutes.

Nate

 

[gale65]

What would the weather need to be like in order to do that? How many times could I keep regrowing it?

Nate

I'm guessing about as warm as it needs to be for regular garden veggies, but it does say it can probably be grown in a pot. I have a piece cut off now that i'm going to put in a pot and see how that works out. Maybe I will put it in the garden when it gets warm enough or just try to keep growing it in the pot and see if it keeps it alive.

 

[hemet dennis]

Think I'm going to have to look into mealworm farming.

 

[mychookschick]

I LOVE the celery idea! I am going to see if my mealies like it and if they do, I will start some!