Mealworm farming

[OwensMom]

ForeverFree, I bed my worms mistly in oats but I also use showbird crumbles for the added nutrition. When I capture worms there is always bedding mixed with them. I don't even worry about it anymore. My girls will eat Everything!! After all they are dinosaurs!!

 

[OwensMom]

Amy, sorry about your mites and I don't know what to do about it. Wiping down the sides of the box will remove some of the buggers. Thinking of you and the farm

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I wipe down the outside of the bin and the table with Lysol every day but there are little white buggies crawling all over it the next day. They get all over the plastic bin inside and out and all over any veggies in the bin. I am sure they are on the newspaper so I leave that in there but wipe my hand or a paper towel all over it to try and kill any by smashing them.

I am not sure what they are but that is the only table and bin they have affected. I make sure I take care of that one last so as not to spread any. There are very little worms or beetles left in it but I can't chance moving them over and there are so many blasted pupae that I gave up trying to make another bin.

 

[sassifrassi]

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Seriously...I found pupa and worms on the ground with some chewed up carrots and oatmeal all over the place! And I am sure I didn't lose any!

 

[hannakat]

Keep wiping Amy! Since your humidity is lower, they should slow down/stop reproducing making for a limited cycle if what I've read is true.

However, I'm curious about why they are on the outside of the box as well. Are they coming out of the box or going into the box? What would happen if you put a band of 2-sided tape around it or a band of vaseline?

Well, on second thought, that would probably make a mess

Okay, how about taking it outside....dump the contents into a smaller container (removing paper and anything else that can be changed out), clean the old container then put some DE in it, and then set the new, smaller container into it?

??? Just feel bad that you have to deal with this. Really makes me aware of where my colonies are and what else is brought into the house.

 

[ForeverFree]

Thank you for the link, it's very helpful.
Do any of you feed your chickens the beetles once they're dead?
I read on the link that that person doesn't, but would it harm the chickens once the beetles are dead?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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It won't harm them. I've never tried feeding them, so I'm not sure how they'll like them, but I'm guessing they will. It's certainly worth a try. Let us know how your birds liked them.

 

[ForeverFree]

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It won't harm them. I've never tried feeding them, so I'm not sure how they'll like them, but I'm guessing they will. It's certainly worth a try. Let us know how your birds liked them.

I'll definitely let you know.
But, I'm just starting to get pupae, so it's gonna take a while.

 

[Chicken Chat]

My 1000 mealworms finally arrived in the mail this morning.

They were out of the mediums so I had to get smalls so the biggest ones look like they are only about 1/2 inch but they look like they are in good shape. Only found about 7 or 8 that were dead. Lots of slothed skins on the newspaper they were shipped in so they must not have had too bad of a journey since they continued to grow. I tucked them in and gave them some apple to munch on while I am at work. They are so cute!

 

[hannakat]

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You is gonna have sooo much fun with those sweeties!!

them wormies!