Mealworm farming

[Chaneys Ranch]

Getting my worms TODAY ! Excited yet feeling alittle creeped out haha Never thought I would want to raise worms!

I have a few questions that I havn't really been able to find as I was trying to read everything here.

1. I plan to let me chickens free range as much as I can so will feed more worms to them in the winter time. How can I save worms so that I have extras for then? Can I just put them in the freezer?

2. I second jlgoinggreen. How many should I expect to feed to my chickens? Is there an amount that would be TO Much?

Hi,
I am sure this question has been asked, but I couldn't find it when skimming through this thread. I am only planning to have 2 to 4 standard sized chickens in my backyard. If given as a supplement, what has been your experience on the amount of worms you should have at hand? And how much should you feed per bird?

1. Freezing is ok, just toss them in baggies, then in an airtight container..but they get mushy like a fruit when you thaw so feed them to the birds asap.

2. You would need a whole lotta worms and yes, they need more than proteins for a balanced diet.
I have probably 15,000 worms etc and I feed about 130+ birds a supplement maybe 10 worms each (?) a few times a week. I hatch a lot of chicks and send a few along as treats with the new owners. Oh if you feed to chicks, make sure they have access to grit.
Its a great training/bonding tool with your birds, and hilarious to watch the chicken superbowl

 

[ms4runr]

85 is a really good temperature, but if you have a heating pad that you can use to raise it another 5 or 10 degrees, that will be even better. I wouldn't go out and buy one for that little boost, but if you have one around I would use it as long as it won't raise the temp above 95. I wouldn't use a light on top.

I have a small heating pad on low. They are very active all the time when it is on. Good suggestion.

 

[Ali707]

Well, originally I was using baby carrots when I first got them and they were eating some of them. Then I switched to large carrots and they ate some of them before I had to take them out. Only one large carrot cut in half in each bin.

When I first got them I put down one slice of potato in the bin and it was covered on the bottom in an hour. It turned black so quickly and the mold started to form so quickly I switched to just the carrots.

For the last month I have put in about 6 small baby carrots and they just get dehydrated and not even touched. So that is why I thought I would try the potato again because they really seemed to like it before. This time I thought I would put down a few more to see if I could get more to latch on to it. Nothing..... Not even a nibble on any slice.

I have a 3 drawer bin, not because I want to keep them separated at different stages but just because I had one handy. I ordered 3000, thinking 1000 per drawer to get it started. They are all still alive, well not all, but lots are still in there moving and pupating and now turning into the creepy beetles, but no one is eating anything I add.

I just find it puzzling because they used to eat it and now they don't. Maybe they are eating each other......?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Well, originally I was using baby carrots when I first got them and they were eating some of them. Then I switched to large carrots and they ate some of them before I had to take them out. Only one large carrot cut in half in each bin.

When I first got them I put down one slice of potato in the bin and it was covered on the bottom in an hour. It turned black so quickly and the mold started to form so quickly I switched to just the carrots.

For the last month I have put in about 6 small baby carrots and they just get dehydrated and not even touched. So that is why I thought I would try the potato again because they really seemed to like it before. This time I thought I would put down a few more to see if I could get more to latch on to it. Nothing..... Not even a nibble on any slice.

I have a 3 drawer bin, not because I want to keep them separated at different stages but just because I had one handy. I ordered 3000, thinking 1000 per drawer to get it started. They are all still alive, well not all, but lots are still in there moving and pupating and now turning into the creepy beetles, but no one is eating anything I add.

I just find it puzzling because they used to eat it and now they don't. Maybe they are eating each other......?

How old are the beetles, thay may be part of it too. They start dying off around 6 months old. If they all died around the same time that could be a big food source for a short time for the mealies.

 

[onafixedincome]

Well, I just ordered 10,000 of the darn things to restock and keep the worm-sucking monsters happy... Went through this weekend and saw I had very few beetles left and the survival over the winter was nowhere near what I need to keep the baby Seramas friendly! So I ordered as many as I could afford--from Rainbow Mealworms in Compton, CA...(Sorry listfolks I contacted, I had to go with the low bidder...*hangs head in shame*)

So gotta get a couple of new bins set up--I am figuring on about half of these to get the farm going again and half to feed out....

 

[MamaAB]

We got our mealworms!!! You can check out pictures and the story here if you are interested
http://theruralcityfarmingfamily.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/meal-worm-anyone.html

 

[Sourdough]

I have some mealworms in-route (Monday delivery maybe) and I plan on getting a 35# bag of grain from my local feed and grain store but wonder how to store it, the grain (oats).

 

[lbrtyldy]

I've had my worms for about 5 months now and it seems to be going really well. They are in organic wheat bran and given organic baby or cut up carrots which I put on a piece of newspaper or in a toilet paper tube. I wear a mask when I tend them after reading that tending them caused some people issues so figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. I have them in a drawer system that's working OK but not perfectly. Looking for some advice.

1) getting baby worms to fall through to bottom drawer - my husband but the bottom of the drawer out, put screening (from an old window screen I think) over it and duct taped it into place. It seems like a LOT of worms stay in the top drawer with the beetles. But I want them to fall through. Advice?

2) cleaning out poop and/or dry skins - I have tried a few ways and made big messes and lots of work for myself. So, how do you clean out your trays? Or do you bother? Doesn't seem healthy to just leave the poop and skins in there and sometimes smells a little (not nasty but some minor odor). I tried using a colander but the little worms would fall through and the bigger ones would get stuck half in and half out of the colander holes. Cute. Switched to a very fine mesh strainer which might be the solution but can only do a little bit at a time which is a nuisance.

I still completely freak when a beetle latches onto my finger but I don't think there is any solution to that one!

Thanks!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

When I clean out a bin, I use a screen type colander and sift out the bugs. do small portions to catch them easier. the sifted matter goes into a tub, and i leave it sit. do my carrot or potato once a week to pull out stragglers. this method clears out the "frass" (poop) of any remaining bugs. Or you can also just dump it on the compost heap, or garden. Makes excellent fertilizer! My 3 drawer where my beetles goes does get some worms in it, but not many. I used the metal window screen for the bottom of the top drawer.

 

[onafixedincome]

Looking for some advice.

1) getting baby worms to fall through to bottom drawer - my husband but the bottom of the drawer out, put screening (from an old window screen I think) over it and duct taped it into place. It seems like a LOT of worms stay in the top drawer with the beetles. But I want them to fall through. Advice?

That's one reason I haven't tried that system--it sounds great and for most people it does seem to work, but Murphy is my **very best friend** and first thing I'd know, either NOTHING would go through or the mesh would fall out. Maybe a wire mesh laid tight and flatter, bed the beetles with oats rather than bran, and not very much of it?

2) cleaning out poop and/or dry skins - I have tried a few ways and made big messes and lots of work for myself. So, how do you clean out your trays? Or do you bother? Doesn't seem healthy to just leave the poop and skins in there and sometimes smells a little (not nasty but some minor odor). I tried using a colander but the little worms would fall through and the bigger ones would get stuck half in and half out of the colander holes. Cute. Switched to a very fine mesh strainer which might be the solution but can only do a little bit at a time which is a nuisance.

In the average bin, the accumulation of frass is pretty slow depending on population density. I can usually get away with sifting that out when the bin is mature, with the vast majority of the worms being almost at pupation stage. As long as beetles haven't been in the bin and there are not many *small* worms, you can sift and toss the frass without a qualm. Of course, the easiest way to get the bitty worms left in there, out, is to just set it in front of the chickens! Use a deeeep box for this or you'll have frass from heck to breakfast.

I still completely freak when a beetle latches onto my finger but I don't think there is any solution to that one!

Well, yeah. It took even me a while to get used to that one.

Sounds like you're doing great--relax, take some time, watch how they *work* before you get too deep into micromanaging. I do a lot of 'husbandry' work on mine, but I need the colonies to crank out the maximum amount of worms if I'm going to keep up with my chickens! There's a lot less mortality if you go through every couple of weeks or months and make sure everything is OK and you don't have a lot of dead stuff in there.