Mealworm farming

[stonecottagefarm]

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These pictures kinda scare me. lol. Do they try to climb out of the box? Thinking maybe I should find bins that are a bit more... escape proof?

 

[Urban Chaos]

they will not climb out or fly out. But, if a lid makes you happy - it cant hurt.

 

[cpchicks]

Tammy,
The giant mealworms are sterile!?

I didn't know that. I asked for mealworms at the feed store and when I got home I noticed it says "giant" on the lid of the container. I hope it's not true...I'm looking forward to a population explosion.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Nope, the beetles do not come out of the tubs. They can't climb the sides and I never even see them try. I have the long plastic ones from Walmart. I make the substrate about 3" deep but they still have about 3" to the top.
I find it fascinating to hear them crunching away on the food. They are pretty cool. I do not want to hold them but they have gotten on my fingers and hands and I just shook them off. They do not bite or pinch so I was fine with that. I played with bugs a lot when I was younger. You know, a year or two ago!

On the question someone asked about dead meal worms coming in the order. Every one of mine was alive that I could tell. There were no black ones but there could have been some recent dead brown ones I did not see. With 5000 I could not tell a whole lot. There was newspaper in the bag with them and they were all over that and inside the cloth bag.

 

[hannakat]

ohmygosh ohmygosh OHMYGOSH!!!!

I just found baby wormies in my single bin container!!! I started it way later than the 3-drawer colony and it's almost 100% oats so I thought the worms would have to be half grown before I'd see them.

Decided to put the bin in a chair and check out the veggies real good to avoid mold issues....so I was lifting pieces of veggies up...old and new. When I lifted a small piece of celery that was sitting directly in the oats, there they were...under there in the oats!!!!!

woohooo!!!!

The activity in the second drawer of the 3-drawer colony is abuzz with worm activity. Tiny worm sheddings everywhere, laying in groups and piles. I'm keeping these well fed to get maximum growth before fall. They are so easy to see now because of the ground up substrate I'm using in that drawer. It's probably time to switch the 2nd and 3rd drawer and let the rest that are hatching fall into the oats. The second drawer is teaming.

I'm thinking of you, Amy, when I look into that 2nd drawer. You wonder if starting out with 5000 was a bit much....I think I'm looking at that many in my second drawer by now....what are we doing???? chicken treats, chicken treats, chickie love!!!

Now it's just waiting to see how long it takes for them to become 'treat' size!!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

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YEA, I'm so happy for you. I started mine way back in February and have had baby worms for about a month now. They are about 3mm long. I can't wait to feed them to the girls.

And as a side note, I pulled out some of the dead beetles the other night and was flicking them one by one two my BO and those are definitely Good Eats according to her.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

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I read it on one of my Bluebird websites. I guess "they" give them some sort of hormone to make them grow bigger and it makes them sterile.

 

[JohnandJacquelineW]

If I were to keep these outside, what sort of critters would I need to watch out for? Obviously, I'd need to keep the chickens and any wild birds out, but do raccoons or opossums or anything else like that get into meal worms?

 

[ForeverFree]

What does it mean when the mealworms are brown/black?
I know they're dead, but why would they turn that color? o:

 

[hannakat]

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I'd have to say yes. Are you using a tub with a lid? That would be the best then just put large holes in the sides and cover with screening material cause other bugs find it attractive also.




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Meal worms turn blacker and blacker as they dry out after they die.... just what they do