Mealworm farming

[Gallo del Cielo]

I am using oatmeal as base food......Guess I'll shift to wheat bran, as I have it for my goats, but thought since so many threads praise oatmeal, I'd use that. Guess I am trying to sift too soon to keep it clean. How often do you sift out frass? Thanks again for your patience during this learning a lot stage.

Bran is better, really. Oatmeal is o.k., but you'll experience fewer problem with bran.

 

[Arielle]

I'm ready to try mealworms again-- how do I find a good supply before the heat of summer??

 

[kubotafoot]

I just began a couple months ago and had great luck with Rainbow Mealworms on Amazon.com. Can't speak for any other companies, but these worms were a great size and LIVE on receipt and had pupa and beetles already at numerous stages. I'm sure there will be a lot of suggestions, but this is mine.

 

[Arielle]

I just began a couple months ago and had great luck with Rainbow Mealworms on Amazon.com. Can't speak for any other companies, but these worms were a great size and LIVE on receipt and had pupa and beetles already at numerous stages. I'm sure there will be a lot of suggestions, but this is mine.

thank you . . .

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm ready to try mealworms again-- how do I find a good supply before the heat of summer??

As mentioned earlier, Rainbow Mealworms seems to have a good reputation with those that have gotten them on the thread. BYC member @crazy huhn , who posts on this thread also sells them and has a good reputation.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Oh good -- I appreciate having a couple sources.

And thank you Gallo for the page on raising mealworms-- I see where I went wrong the first time.

 

[mwawrzyniec]

Has anyone measure the yield of their mealworm farm? Im trying to figure out how big of a system that I need to last me through the winter. I have 6 hens and would like to supplement around 10% of their diet with mealworms, so I'm estimating I need roughly 40 lbs for a year supply.

 

[jenneverett]

Has anyone measure the yield of their mealworm farm? Im trying to figure out how big of a system that I need to last me through the winter. I have 6 hens and would like to supplement around 10% of their diet with mealworms.

i have only just started my mealworm farm but i have started with 5000 and have posted info on what i am doing to try for the best results. i am on day 10 or so of when i first received them in the mail. when i did receive them all were worms in various lengths. to date i have pulled out and moved 23 pupae to the beetle bin.

 

[Latestarter]

As mentioned earlier, Rainbow Mealworms seems to have a good reputation with those that have gotten them on the thread. BYC member @crazy huhn , who posts on this thread also sells them and has a good reputation.

I'll second the recommendation of Rainbow. Total cost w/shipping was about $32. I ordered 5000 from them about a month ago and split them into 2 large containers. I found only a 1/2 dozen or so dead ones in the lot! I am now crawling with worms and beetles and have more pupae than I wish to count! I have them in a mix of oatmeal, wheat bran and whole wheat flour. they seem to like it fine. I don't "sift" anything out and have no intention of doing so

I take the lids off the containers every couple of days to check moisture content and other than that just enjoy the "show"

I don't even have my chickens yet, but their future treats are doing just fine

Good luck in your worm farming endeavors!

 

[Latestarter]

Has anyone measure the yield of their mealworm farm? Im trying to figure out how big of a system that I need to last me through the winter. I have 6 hens and would like to supplement around 10% of their diet with mealworms, so I'm estimating I need roughly 40 lbs for a year supply.

40 pounds of mealworms is a LOT... I mean VERY LOT of mealworms!! My 5000 that I purchased came in a box a little larger than the size of a large Kleenex box:


Here's a picture for size comparison. It's sitting on top of one of the 2 containers that are their new home(s) I think the total weight of those 5000 worms was maybe a pound or 2, if that! I can see using them for treats year round, but can't imagine using them as a staple part of the chicken's diet. They are a source of protein to supplement what is in their feed (when natural bugs are not available... like winter months with snow on the ground).

Since the entire life cycle from egg to worm to beetle and back to egg can take several months (based on diet, temperature, humidity and worm sexual temperament Hehehe), you'd really need a very sizable colony at all stages in place to generate 40 pounds over a year's time. Hope it all works out for you!