Mealworm farming

[onafixedincome]

Is this something good to do for the chickens ??

ABSOLUTELY!

*typed by Kid Chicken, ona's mealie-addicted hen*

Seriously, yes. MUCH friendlier chickens, healthier, happier.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
I found mine sweat near a window in the summer. Plus the worms don't like the light.

 

[DMRippy]

CAUTION: LONG POST TO FOLLOW (got carried away haha)... nothing really new, but just putting things in perspective

I was just reading a quick study of temperature affects on darkling beetles. No species was given since this was not the actual scientific study, but was using graphs from one. The first thing I noticed is that the temperature of the litter is more important than the air. This makes sense since that is where they live. So using a reptile heater or something like some people here are doing seems to be a great idea. The second thing I noticed is that temperatures just below 70F are quite different from those around 80. The difference between 80 and 90 and 100F were not as drastic even though there were definite differences. At 68F, the life cycle is much longer and as a result the survival rate is much lower. Like I said, the species was not given and I am pretty sure this is not the ones we grow, but the logic still stands. When the litter is cooler, it takes longer for the eggs to hatch which increases the likely hood that the egg won't hatch at all. But that is just the start. The cooler temperatures also increase the time in the larval stage (mealworm stage). This has a large impact on survival rate.

Besides temperature, one thing that sticks in my mind is the difference the starting colony number makes. I knew that it made a difference, but never really calculated it. In my mind I am thinking in terms of increasing the number 10 fold over the life of the beetle. Like I said, I never put numbers to it. But even with my original estimate, starting with 50 mealworms yields 500 vs starting with 1000 mealworms yielding 10,000. Boy, was I in the wrong mindset. Now that I saw some real numbers applied in this article, not only were my numbers off, but this is really a logarithmic difference. The article says that on average, you can expect 5 eggs per day from a female in the higher temperatures (over 95F). If you start with enough mealworms to yield 100 beetles after the mortality rate, let's say 50 are female. That means that 250 eggs are laid a day. After 30 days, that is 7500 eggs. After 60 days, that is 15,000 eggs. After 90 days that is 22,500 eggs. Now let's look at the same numbers if you had enough to end up with 200 female beetles (so 400 beetles in our example). 1 day = 1000 eggs. 30 Days = 30,000 eggs. 60 days = 60,000 eggs. 90 days = 90,000 eggs. This is just egg production. You would then have to factor in the mortality rate of the eggs and the larvae. But you would also have to factor in any larvae becoming a beetle and laying their own eggs. But I'lll stop here before I make this even longer.

So now I am wondering the best way to get my temperatures up. I would say anything over 80F would be ideal. Right now they are at around 70 (I haven't checked for a bit). I don't really want to use a space heater and the reptile pads that attach to the outside of the cage give a large range of possible increase for the product (between 2 and 8 degrees F). Not worth it for 2 degrees, but maybe for 8. However I imagine there are ones out there that might be better. I also can't wait for Spring... or Summer

Could you not make a INCUBATOR for the worms? Just a thought. I use Flexwatt in my incubator and hatcher. does not quite get up to 100 without help but it gets to 85-90 ish just fine. A insulated box with a heat source (no light would help I would think) plenty of ventilation to keep the humidity down.......

I know this was 2 days ago.... I am still reading.

 

[kwol]

I have a colony of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (my 5y.o. thought they were neat). As pets for the time being but may start offering them up to my chickens once I get their new coop/run built. On the roaches themselves, they really aren't bad. I was hesitant to allow them as pets because of the perceived yuck factor, but they're nothing like American cockroaches that populate at insane levels. I bought 2 males/2 females, and have them in a 30g tank with maybe a couple hundred roaches. Virtually 0 maintenance (drop a potato or apple in once a week or so) and they get their food/drink needs from it. You could put a pair in a tupperware container, poke some holes in the top and just grab a few out at a time for your chickens with no hassle. If anyone wants a few to start a renewable feed source with, or colony for pet/entertainment/education; let me know. Free with your shipping.

Just started my mealworm farm and I found this thread today. Your post reminded me of an episode on the X-Factor ( I think that was the name of the show) where the contestants had to eat one of those hissing cockroaches live. Your poor babies!
I watched several you-Tube videos and bought a three drawer system for $12.00. I looked on Craig's list and found a local mealworm supplier and got 1000 for $10.00. I used chicken pellets ground up in my food processor to a fine powder as a substate and we will go from there. I used the pellet medium because I saw that some of the grain mediums could develope a mold and I wanted this system to be as carefree as possible.
So we have worms in the top drawer and a dozen or so pupae in the second drawer so far. Picking out the pupae is easy, they are laying on top. Yuck factor so far is minimal.

 

[LaBella]

FEAR FACTOR!!!
I loved that show.

I'm on page 185, and had a thought hit me. A few pages back (dunno how many) there was a discussion about marketing the frass as fertilizer.
Well I know I'm super late, but this just popped into my head.
Frasstastic.
You can call it what you want, that's the one I'm going with, lol.

 

[Mavrk]

Got another 5 lbs of wheat bran in the oven for my second aquarium. I decided it would be fun to have 2 going. I am going to move the beetles into this one so I can see how long it will take to have my first adult mealworm in this new container.

 

[Mavrk]

Got another 5 lbs of wheat bran in the oven for my second aquarium. I decided it would be fun to have 2 going. I am going to move the beetles into this one so I can see how long it will take to have my first adult mealworm in this new container.

I just moved a whole bunch of beetles over to the new bin. There are still some left in the old one, but I'll fish for them later (or I might just leave them). I did see at least one adult mealworm in there. It must have been a baby or an egg that came along with my original order. I could also see that the substrate was teaming with babies of different sizes (many of which were big enough to easily see even from a distance). Some of the babies may have ended up in the new bin, but I am not really concerned about that.

 

[farmhand]

Just placed an order for 1,000 mealworms from Amy at West Knoll Farms. Thinking I should change my handle from Farmhand to Wormfarm. Mine will have to be grown out in the detached garage. My wife would toss the worms and myself out if she found them in the house.

 

[Mavrk]

Just placed an order for 1,000 mealworms from Amy at West Knoll Farms. Thinking I should change my handle from Farmhand to Wormfarm. Mine will have to be grown out in the detached garage. My wife would toss the worms and myself out if she found them in the house.

Lol. Just make sure they are warm enough. Otherwise the process can be very slow. But I know where you're coming from. My wife asked me "what are you baking" today. When I said I was sterilizing the wheat bran for the mealworms she gave me a very quizzical look. Luckily she didn't catch on that this is for a second aquarium of the critters. I have them hidden away in the utility closet in the basement. The furnace keeps the room a little warmer and it is nice and dark. Plus she never goes in there so it is not in her way. My red wigglers are in the shed out back. I had them in our attached garage at one time, but the earthy smell was wafting into the hallway so I had to move them. The winter has definitely depleted their numbers a bit, but they will bounce back.

 

[CESpeed]

The reptile heating pads are typically around 90 degrees. they can be clued to the bottom of the tank/tote/container. They are cheap and work great! Seedling mats are good too from what i have been told, but mine are reptile mats.

I priced reptile mats today and a thought occured to me: if I put the mat at the bottom of the tank won't they all head in that direction? Is there a way to have a consistent temp throughout the tank?