Mealworm farming

[lovemealworms]

My worms are getting pretty big now, but they are getting dark. Some of them are nearly black but very much alive... any idea what's up with them? I'm not worried, just curious.

sometimes when there is too much frass (mealworm poop) it will make the mealworms change to a darker color. It's a good way to see the status of the substrate. Or their conditions that they were raised in.

 

[Gypsi]

I have had mealworms since 2011 and it is time to change their wheat bran and give them to a new enthusiastic owner. My chickens are grown and many and I have not done well at keeping the colony, now 3 drawers in size, tended. So I have 3 drawers of sandy eaten wheat bran and a handful of worms and adults in each drawer. I don't want to discard eggs if I have any, figured I would sift and sort and put only the living in the new bin, how do I be sure I am not discarding eggs?

 

[lovemealworms]

I have had mealworms since 2011 and it is time to change their wheat bran and give them to a new enthusiastic owner. My chickens are grown and many and I have not done well at keeping the colony, now 3 drawers in size, tended. So I have 3 drawers of sandy eaten wheat bran and a handful of worms and adults in each drawer.  I don't want to discard eggs if I have any, figured I would sift and sort and put only the living in the new bin, how do I be sure I am not discarding eggs?

sort out live like you are planning. Combine all the sandy bran in one container or drawer and continue giving moisture veggies. After a month if no little worms under veggies Toss it the eggs normally hatch between 4 and 14 days so giving them two weeks to get to visible size after they hatch. Any other questions please send them my way

 

[Gypsi]

I have all the sandy bran in a bucket, do I need to move it to a tray so it is only a couple of inches deep? (trying to find one, reclaiming my rolling cart from the worms.)

 

[lovemealworms]

I have all the sandy bran in a bucket, do I  need to move it to a tray so it is only a couple of inches deep?  (trying to find one, reclaiming my rolling cart from the worms.)

no if are any in there they will work their way up. In search of moisture.

 

[Kusanar]

sometimes when there is too much frass (mealworm poop) it will make the mealworms change to a darker color. It's a good way to see the status of the substrate. Or their conditions that they were raised in.

Ok, that's interesting. I don't THINK that they have too much frass in there, but who knows, that could be it, Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Lynn Manes]

We started our colony in early Spring this year. It was flourishing with wheat middlings. Then, the 50# bag got weevils so we returned it to TSC. I decided not to buy such a huge bag again and wanted to put in only a gluten free grain. So I started with gf oats. They seemed to be okay. Along with some newspaper (black ink only), I threw in a couple of paper towel rolls I'd seen in another member's setup, & in no time the worms were hiding out inside them too. All cool until one day I started giving them carrot scrapings instead of just pieces of carrots. I didn't check on them for maybe a week or so and when I did they were all dead-worms in all stages, pupae and the beetles. And everything was super damp and stinky. So we lost the whole colony. We are going to start all over, but I'm so sad this happened. No more carrot castoffs here. I learned my lesson the hard way as we had thousands of worms and 100's of beetles now gone My question is this-Will it be okay to throw this dead colony to my birds (chickens, ducks and geese), or should we just throw it in compost? I'm still buying dried mealworms for them anyway so they won't be without. And once our new colony is built up, is there a link here to learn how to dry them?

 

[lovemealworms]

We started our colony in early Spring this year. It was flourishing with wheat middlings. Then, the 50# bag got weevils so we returned it to TSC. I decided not to buy such a huge bag again and wanted to put in only a gluten free grain. So I started with gf oats. They seemed to be okay. Along with some newspaper (black ink only), I threw in a couple of paper towel rolls I'd seen in another member's setup, & in no time the worms were hiding out inside them too. All cool until one day I started giving them carrot scrapings instead of just pieces of carrots. I didn't check on them for maybe a week or so and when I did they were all dead-worms in all stages, pupae and the beetles. And everything was super damp and stinky. So we lost the whole colony. We are going to start all over, but I'm so sad this happened. No more carrot castoffs here. I learned my lesson the hard way as we had thousands of worms and 100's of beetles now gone My question is this-Will it be okay to throw this dead colony to my birds (chickens, ducks and geese), or should we just throw it in compost? I'm still buying dried mealworms for them anyway so they won't be without. And once our new colony is built up, is there a link here to learn how to dry them?

a mass die off means bacteria mold or moisture. I would compost to besafe. Withe bacteria it tends to come from unwashed veggies. Mold is just everywhere and both tend to be caused by too much moisture. Do you have a lid on your colony. The drying of mealworms is easy i use an oven at 150 f. For up to four hours if for animals. Just check at each hour mark to see if they crumble in your hands after the second hour. Oh yah and euthanize them first or you will have escapees by rinsing draining and freezing for24 hours. Any questions send them my way.

 

[Arielle]

Stupid basic question. Is grit necessary to digest mealworms? And I mean the chicks. Lol

 

[lovemealworms]

Stupid basic question. Is grit necessary to digest mealworms? And I mean the chicks. Lol

sorry not my area of expertise. I don't have chickens, only dragons. Wish i could help. I will try to look it up now and see.