Mealworm farming

[Lacy Blues]

Do mealworms like it warmer or cooler?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Do mealworms like it warmer or cooler?

They love being warm. I have mine on a reptile mat. They are fat and active. it probably stays at 85-90 degrees.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I guess I'd better move them then! I thought they wanted to be cool.

Thank you.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I guess I'd better move them then! I thought they wanted to be cool.

Thank you.

You're welcome

They will live in cool temps, just won't reproduce very fast at all.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Well, mine got infected with mites in November so I put them on the patio, where the mites disappeared, so they stayed there. I wasn't fond of losing them anyway. I know the mites are still there, but since they're not being gross, the box of mealies remains

onafixedincome suggested I wash them in tepid water, so I pulled out some beetles and some worms and gave them a bath in running water, probably a bit long

The beetles were weak looking and some look dead now, LOL, but I think I have at least 10 live ones and 10 live worms (larva). They're in cornmeal, which is what I have on hand. I sterilized the cornmeal already before starting. So I'm hoping to build up my "farm" again from this tiny batch.

that it works, and that I have no more mites that managed to live through all this!

It was such a bummer because my first generation were just starting to grow when this happened. If I had to pay for more worms every time a catastrophe happened, I don't think I would have tried again. Just too short on money. Gotta buy chicken feed first, ya know? So thank you so much onafixedincome!!! I really appreciate it, it was well worth the try!

BTW, is cornmeal just as good as Bran? 'cause I could get the worms out of it so much easier! Right through the sieve it goes, leaving the larger mealies behind! Is Bran that much better for them? Thanks again everyone, I keep learning on this thread!

After all this time, I have yet to feed my chickens any mealies of any quantity to supplement their diet, only a few times did I hand out a few small worms to my Serama chicks and the other chicks when they were small

 

[onafixedincome]

They really do need the bran...they can subsist in other grains, but IMO, bran is what they're designed for and should have....

 

[cluck-cluck]

Oh, well shoot! I hope the corn will work for now, 'cause I'd hate to dump it all out unused

Really hope they'll recuperate in there in the corn, otherwise I guess I just killed a bunch and wasted cornmeal!

I just read in someone's blog that they blend their substrate in a blender so they can use a sifter to get their worms when ready, that's an excellent idea, and for some reason, the first time I read that I'll add bran again, but I'm going to grind it up smaller first

 

[onafixedincome]

When you ditch the cornmeal, it won't be wasted. Just soak it in water overnight, then feed it to the chickens! (If you have redworms, they'll LOVE it, too!)

If you decide to blenderize your bran, please remember to wear a mask. The respiratory issues that can result from breathing the fine dust (with or without mealworm allergens in there) are miserable! The mask is TOTALLY worth wearing.

I'm probably going to have to restock come spring--I think the recent freezing nights have largely eliminated most of my worms. I'll find out over the next few days as I go through and sort 'em out for intentional freezing. *sigh* Have to find a better way!

 

[BeccaSmith]

I too had a problem with grain mites and I bake my substrate before using it, where did I go wrong? Well I was keeping the mealworms in the garage due to their smell, but I was also keeping the chicken scratch, chicken feed, and meal worm substrate in the garage as well. I thought I had everything far enough away from my mealworms but I guess not. It can't be a high humidity issue because we have below 20% humidity year round, I found that once the garage heated up during the summer ( around 90 degrees) the grain mites died off and I thought I was in the clear, but then when temps started cooling back down they returned and at that time I had moved them indoors to keep them active. The grain mites got so bad I just decided to feed everything out to my girls and I'll start over again in the spring!

 

[rmonge00]

Does anyone know of a way to raise worms (meal or others that chickens like) without using bran, but using something that is easier to grow or scavenge for free, like leaf litter or wood chips or potatoes, cabbages, and carrots? Or how about even crumbled up bread (I have access to free stale bread!) Has anyone tried this, I am trying to find the cheapest and most nutritional way to feed the chickens....