Mealworm farming

[snakes]

So these probably aren't a pest that invaded my house, but more likely came with the shipment of mealworms?

 

[DHinton]

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 5 long months, lots of carrots, potatoes and oatmeal I FINALLY have some decent sized mealworms in my 10 gallon all-in-one aquarium.

Many times I've considered pitching it out.......... just giving my 5 chickens whatever they could find it in.............. but finally now I have worms and beetles.

While this was a neat experiment, it sure seems like more work than it's worth IMO.

I have mine in my 60 degree basement sitting on a heating pad for the last couple months to bring the temp into the upper 70's. Wonder how much it has cost me in electric and vegetables to get these crazy worms to reproduce. Would it have been cheaper to just buy them at the pet store to feed to the chickens????

Ummm......................

mine stay a lot warmer and i have tens of thousands from my original few thousand, and that's after feeding several thousand to my chickens, quail, and bearded dragon over the past several months.

maybe keep them warmer?

every time i scoop out a hundred or two, i think about what petsmart charges for them - and smile.

heck, if i could find people locally to sell to super cheap - i'd make a good profit that way as well.

 

[DHinton]

So these probably aren't a pest that invaded my house, but more likely came with the shipment of mealworms?

they very well might have come with your shipment.

afaik, you can feed them to your birds/lizards/whatever, just like the mealworms. i COULD be wrong... might want to double check that first.

but, my yard-roaming chickens - eat all kinds of stuff... including god only knows what bugs.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

How do you know when to start taking the worms out to feed to the chickens? And how do you know how many to take out?

I ordered 1000 off eBay and am going to put them in a bin

 

[chrissyr]

How do you know when to start taking the worms out to feed to the chickens? And how do you know how many to take out?

I ordered 1000 off eBay and am going to put them in a bin

Hi Chickengirl1304
When they are small to medium I start taking them out. When you get beetles:If your beetles have been in there laying a long time you will still get very tiny ones also when filtering. I try not to get those, but I don't worry about it if I do.
And if you have 1000, if you want to grow your own, you could feed some. But you would want most of those to turn into beetles to continue the process. I'm no expert on how many, but I don't let it look sparse in a bin. If the bran is movin all over, I have plenty to feed. If I'm having a hard time finding any worms, I've taken too much. That's just me. Anyone else can correct me on that.
I try to feed a handful every day or so, but in the cold weather they aren't growing as fast. So I don't have as many to feed out. And I have them in the house because they would die in this cold.
I got mine at rainbowmealworms.net. They have 2 coupon codes: BESTCUSTOMER and NEW12(I think that's it) the first one is like $7 off. For me , shipping was cheap too since I'm in the CA

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Hi Chickengirl1304
When they are small to medium I start taking them out. When you get beetles:If your beetles have been in there laying a long time you will still get very tiny ones also when filtering. I try not to get those, but I don't worry about it if I do.
And if you have 1000, if you want to grow your own, you could feed some. But you would want most of those to turn into beetles to continue the process. I'm no expert on how many, but I don't let it look sparse in a bin. If the bran is movin all over, I have plenty to feed. If I'm having a hard time finding any worms, I've taken too much. That's just me. Anyone else can correct me on that.
I try to feed a handful every day or so, but in the cold weather they aren't growing as fast. So I don't have as many to feed out. And I have them in the house because they would die in this cold.
I got mine at rainbowmealworms.net. They have 2 coupon codes: BESTCUSTOMER and NEW12(I think that's it) the first one is like $7 off. For me , shipping was cheap too since I'm in the CA

Thank you so much I really appreciate it

How do you get just the worms out when you're ready to feed some to the chickens? Is there a trick? Do you just pick them out?

 

[chrissyr]

Thank you so much I really appreciate it

How do you get just the worms out when you're ready to feed some to the chickens? Is there a trick? Do you just pick them out?

I use a plastic spaghetti strainer. NOT the one with the real small metal holes. Your bran won't filter out with that one. I think walmart or target has some for a couple dollars.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

I use a plastic spaghetti strainer. NOT the one with the real small metal holes. Your bran won't filter out with that one. I think walmart or target has some for a couple dollars.

But don't the beetles get in there?

Also my husband is worried about the beetles getting out of the bin in the house. They can't...right? Lol

 

[chrissyr]

But don't the beetles get in there?

Also my husband is worried about the beetles getting out of the bin in the house. They can't...right? Lol

Well if you just so one bin, the yes, you will have to pick out the beetles. One the first page of this thread, Gallo has amazing input on doing one bin. I have 3. Different stages are easier to filter the size worm you want. to transfer beetles I feed the their fruit or veggies source. But actually a piece of toast works great too(not sure why). In about an hour when they swarm the source, I lift up the beetles on the toast, etc and just transfer to a new bin.
And they can't climb plastic sides. They can get out if your filtering them and fling a couple around. I haven't had any get in the house.
***and wear a mask when filtering. The dust can cause SEVERE allergies.

 

[tiffu22]

OK I believe I have mites and/ or moths. I have a screen on one so the eggs can fall through but when you look at the bottom you can see strings like cob webs hanging. There are also dust on the side of the drawers.What should I do? Can I save anything. Can any worms get wet like as in rinsing the off?