Mealworm farming

[crazy huhn]

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Is vermicomposting hard to do? I am also going to start the mealings when we move.
wow someone else that wants to do bees. that is another topic to learn about and find someone in my area that does bee keeping to teach me.
deana

Not hard at all. Basically you add worms to your compost. Red Wrigglers to be exact. Other worms are not as useful. You can get them at a bait shop - although I have been having a hard time lately. Check Craigslist/Kijiji - thats where I got my first batch. I grind up my organic waste (you don't have to) add it to the compost, and it turns into worm poop. Great for the garden. My master plan was to breed the worms so I would have enough of them to add straight to my garden, so they would eat the chicken poop that is attracting so many flies!
As for the bees I'm thinking one or two Top-Bar hives. They seem the easiest. I think there is a BackyardBees.com as well!

Composting is nice for any garden.

But I also wanted to drop a note about the used mealworm bedding which is the very best fertilizer you can get and just another reason I do have mealworms. Since I have started my mealworm breeding about 4 years ago, I have never used any commercial fertilizer anymore on my flower and vegetable garden. I have only used the mealworm castings and my garden has never looked any better. A lot of my local mealworm customers now are buying the castings as well for their organic gardens.

Here is an analysis of mealworm castings I found: mealworm castings contain 4 times the available nitrogen, plus other important nutrients such as phosphorus and iron -- Nitrogen-4.17% Phosphorus-2.70% Potash-1.64% Sodium-62.9mg/100gms Iron-26.5mg/100gms. PH is 7.25---

 

[galanie]

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Yeah!!! Tomato worms do drive them insane don't they! It's even funnier when the chickens are small.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/56638_hornworms.jpg

Do you plant marigolds around your tomato plants? If so, do you still get the tomato worms? I don't remember if I planted the marigolds the year I got tomato worms. I will sure be on the lookout to give them to my chickies.

I plant many things among the tomatoes normally but didn't that time. I seem to get them sometimes, and not other times. I don't worry much about them as they are easy to pick off and the girls love them. Course I don't have more than a dozen plants at a time, either.

 

[galanie]

Oh, and as for Vermiculture, I learned a lot from watching this lady's YouTube videos: http://www.vermiculturenorthwest.com/ There's a link to her YouTube channel on the home page.

As for the moths in the worm bin, so far the cocoons are there but I can't find anything in any of them, nor do I see any moth larvae. But I haven't inspected closely yet, so there could be some there. That bin is now teeming with mealies

 

[BuffyGRL]

This is a very interesting thread, after skimming through most of the pages I would like to get some input please

Where does everyone recommend getting their mealworms to start or does someone on here sell them? I have checked one place and the shipping was terrible, more than the cost of 3,000 mealies and that was the only shipping auction.

Loving the idea of starting mealworm farming for my chickies

 

[hannakat]

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Check out pages 3-4 of the thread. That should help explain the 3-drawer set up. There are also many Youtube videos about it.

BuffyGRL ~ exoticnutrition is a good place. With this heat, not many are shipping though.

 

[Klwright1122]

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I just got a shipment of worms from a BYC'er and this is how she shipped them and they arrived in great condition. I got 5000 worms.

She used a cardboard egg carton (18 eggs) and put half the worms in it along with a potato or two or some carrots...put that egg carton inside a cotton sack--cheese cloth maybe and tied the top closed with twine...did the same thing with the other half... Then she put the two cotton bags or cheese cloth bags into a USPS (if it fits it ships box) ...poked holes all over the box with a pencil for air. Everything arrived fine. She also shipped pupa in a cardboard jewelry box poked with holes...and beetles in another box poked with holes..each had a little bit of wheat bran and small piece of carrot. The boxes were taped shut.
She shipped fm Cali to Alabama...provided tracking number ...and requires a signature. Everything was healthy. I just got em yesterday and this morning 12 of the pupae had turned into beetles!!
Hope this is helpful.

 

[Klwright1122]

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Check out pages 3-4 of the thread. That should help explain the 3-drawer set up. There are also many Youtube videos about it.

This 3 bin drawer sounds kinda time intensive...but really what I don't get is the eggs dropping into the lower bin...I imagine they don't "all" drop down and ultimately get babies growing in ur top bin, no?

I am brand new to this worm thing...I have wrigglers, but just got my meal worms the other day. But this is what I plan on doing---I am curious to hear about any flaws in my plan from the group....

Since I received pupa as part of my shipment as they turn to beetles I am going to put 50 of em in a large, clean, brand new bin filled with wheat bran and veggies and let them lay their eggs and grow in that bin. As they mature and get older, (i will date the bin) i will feed or refrigerate for my chickens. I will select 50 mature worms from that bin--put them in another new large bin and let them pupate, turn into beetles, lay eggs (removing dead beetles as I go) and turn into worms--all without moving them but just the one time as mature worms.
What are perceived flaws with this plan? What am I not considering or thinking about? Appreciate the feedback.

 

[Kassaundra]

klwright, is your plan to have a constant supply of mealies throughout the year? Harvesting from each bin in turn?

50 large larve are you counting for those that don't make it through pupa alive and 100% healthy in the final numbers you are trying to achieve. If all make it that would be an average of 25 female egg layer. 25 x 500 (average eggs laid in her life) that would be about 12,500 mealie larva per batch. How many do you need for feed out? How many batches do you plan? They take approx 4 - 6 months for complete life cycle, so are you planning on 4 bins rotating through each month?

 

[Kassaundra]

A question for everyone ............................. How many mealies do you feed out to your chickens? However you want to post it mealies / day, or / bird etc.....

 

[Klwright1122]

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Yes...I think so...so like maybe 4 bins going...every 3-4 months I would start a new bin...based on growth...I guess they might slow down as temps cool--so I would harvest 50 mature worms into a new bin and then bag and refrigerate the rest...because theoretically--they would all be mature at that point since they arrived in the bin at approximately the same time. Does that make sense?