Mealworm farming

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

thanks for the reply late .... mealworm are 45-48% raw protein ... must be some good in there .... perhaps a partial replacement for soy ... and i agree gonna need a lot of them ... plan is to take those 3kg and breed them out over 4 -6 months to 300kg - here bran cost about 30 cent a kilo and they convert feed to body mass at 2:1 same as a chicken... every 6 worms is worth a gram .. so 12 worms is worth roughly a gram in protein ...sorry - lot of math here ..( average adult broiler eats up to 130 grams of feed a day at 15-18%percent protein = bottom end 20 grams of protein or 240 worms a day ) ... gonna get in 100 day olds ... an separate them into 10 teams ... 10 a side ! .... first team gets no meal worm up to the last team that gets 15 % extra every day ... keep all of them on the same feed ratios and check the weight after 3 weeks vs feed consumed ... now as for algae .... algae is super healthy rich in omega 3 ... has all the right stuff ..trace minerals etc ... its pretty much the same as any greens you feed your chickens now but grows 40 times faster than anything else.....besides using the lipids for biofuel most of whats left is protein and carbs ... algae is sold as a food supplement for human consumption ...have read up on research done and a 8-10 % mix with their food is beneficial (http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/raising-chickens-algal-boosted-feed/ ) .... ps ..all the birds are going to be free range ..i have enough space here ... and busy building coops as we speak ... the ultimate goal is to copy nature ...what do they eat in the wild .... greens, seeds and insects and grit right ??!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

@DIGGIN CHICKEN , yes that is a lot of math. You have done your homework. What I wonder is.... My hubby's coworker told him that if your chickens get too many bugs it will alter the flavor of the eggs, any thoughts? I would definitely say that what animals eat alters the flavor of the meat... cows, deer... So I would be curious to know the if there is a difference between yours.

Also I think what you raise your meal worms on effects their nutritional value. If you gut load them on dog food or chicken feed right before you feed them out I think the value goes way up (no proof).

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

thanks for the reply eggsighted4life .... apparently from what i have read the extra nutrition for mealworms makes the yolks richer and a darker yellow .... have not experienced it myself since i'm still pretty new to the fowl industry ... but on route to finding out !! ( I tend to find things that interest me in life and jump in head first without a bungie cord ...happens every 4 years or so till i get bored and sell up to move on to greener pastures!)

as for meal worms ... got things lined up for these little crispy critter too .... busy doing research on ways to feed em ... but you are dead right ... take a human ... give him an extra 2000 calories a day and a set of 20kg dumbells and you end up with an ''adonis '' ..take it a step further and add riods ..ooops ...there goes the weener ! So yea ... i think its a matter of experimentation .. the whole process is so fascinating ...from selling the frass, mealworms,chickens ,eggs and day olds ...

had an old ad on the telly here .. every south africa would remember it ... Farmer brown chickens ...punch line went something like ...'' THEY TASTE SO GOOD CAUSE THEY EAT SO GOOD'' .. think that sums it up !

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Well,

If you have any way, update me with your results when you get there please? What kind of algae are you growing? I used to feed my fish spiralina (not sure of spelling).

And since I got 45,000 meal worms, and farming them is straight forward... love to see the experiments!

Good luck!

 

[Jensownzoo]

I would also love to see your results after your mealworm experiment. I finally have "almost too tiny to see" mealworm babies from the colony I started in February.

I haven't heard of feeding algae, but I was looking into duckweed as a feed supplement. Also easy to grow...all you need is a kiddie pool and a scoop of the plants to start.

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

@ jensownzoo ... yip duck weed is another option ... Every 30 hours, the species can undergo an entire life cycle. ... maybe be more stable than algae ...since algae is uni-cellular , duckweed is multi ... practically the same thing--- both have advantages ..... as for aglae ... was just hoping to mix a bit of chicken poop with water and see what results .... maybe do both see which one is easiest ! Will keep you both informed .... another 5 days before i get my meal worms .... the waiting is killing me ! (wonder if mealworms eat duck weed (dry it out ) ??

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

Got my first egg this morning ...whooo hooo!!!

 

[doglover1]

You're not crazy lol, I am crazy, I have spent the last 4 days here tyring to keep 1 beetle alive. He was kinda deformed when turning into a beetle. He just couldn't get out of the sack. I had to pull him out the rest of it. He didn't look right at all, had been struggling forever. He was getting weak and dying. He is missing one leg (one of the middle ones) and his front one is all folded so he can't stay upright. I know he will die but can't help but try to keep the little bugger so he can be fed and watered in hopes of gaining strength and trying to learn to walk missing 2 legs but they are the front leg and the middle one same side. I can't see him making it. Oops was to a poster but didn't quote them lol

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

brief updated .... got my mealworms in this morning .... man ..a whole bunch of em ... 3 kg ... used 6 kitty litter trays ... but they all housed and happy ... guy sent me medium sized ones ... so i'm guessing there must be like 25 000 -30 000 of the crispy critters . Let the games begin !

After that first egg ... nada ! Thats it !! only got the one egg and the hen ain't sitting on it ! Think i got reject hens !!

 

[Jensownzoo]

I think they usually lay in fits and starts at first. Takes a while for the hormones and the "machinery" to sort itself out. I've been told that pullet eggs are for eating, not for raising too thanks to that, or you might end up with low fertility/low hatch rates/high culls.

The baby mealworms are shedding skins a LOT, so they must like the food! Going to have to skim the top soon and add them to the compost.