Mealworm farming

[dannyisforreal]

Thanks

 

[CrazyDuckFarms]

I always wondered how to do this, thanks for posting, good topic! Not as easy as it seems! Fremont rd oats are easier lol

 

[Dipstick]

This works fine if you have a dense and highly functioning colony. The problem is a lot of people that are starting out will try this and then they'll have grain mites, more so if they live in a moist climate. Happens on this thread a lot.

Yes. This is why I said be careful to go less than more.

 

[Dipstick]

I'd hesitate on the 'water crystals' for potted plants.....
.....they are some kind of polymer and may be toxic to mealworms,

at the very least I doubt it would be good for them to eat them.

Friend spilled a pile of them on her lawn they stayed slimy mess for weeks.

That was my EXACT concern.

 

[dannyisforreal]

Um I'm sure this is in here but what do they eat

? and how long before they pupa late? What percent of them should you keep for reproduction? How many puples do they have? will they ever die naturally? Do you need to supplement with feed if you give the chicken a cup of them? T

 

[Dipstick]

Um I'm sure this is in here but what do they eat

? and how long before they pupa late? What percent of them should you keep for reproduction? How many puples do they have? will they ever die naturally? Do you need to supplement with feed if you give the chicken a cup of them? T

OK, there is a lot here and I am short on time, so I will move fast.


They eat almost anything you give them... wheat bran has proven to be far preferred to oats in my farm, but you can give them oats, and I have heard of people feeding them dog food and other things, so they do not seem to be too picky.... but that said, stick with wheat bran.

For water, give them wet vegetables.... wet as in holds a lot of water internally, like melon, apple, potato, carrot, lettuce, etc. NEVER put WATER in their environment, unless you have 10's of thousands, and you know what you are doing with them, and how much they can handle at a time... or you will hate the outcome.

They are pupae not "puples", even though they are in the pupal stage of their development, and they pupate... not "pupalate" when changing into beetles. Just a little tweaking of your vocabulary there.

As for how long before the pupate, it is completely based upon factors such as what kind of feed you give to them, the availability of moisture for them to eat, temperature, humidity, to a lessor extent, light, and I am sure I have missed something else, but cannot think of it now.

The % of them which you must allow to pupate depends upon the number of worms you use on a regular basis. I would need more details from you to be more specific in my answer. If you have only 5,000 worms and you want to harvest a cup a day, you must allow them ALL to pupate, repeatedly, for more than a year before you begin to harvest ANY... or you will deplete your colony.

I have a a large set up by comparison to most here, and I still am not sure that I can consistently harvest a full cup daily... without a slight break in there somewhere... though I am close to that.

As for numbers, that depends upon the number you start with. They only have ONE pupae per worm. That is the specific answer to your actual question, though I do not think that is what you were intending to ask.

I THINK you intended to ask, how many babies can they have? The answer to that, again, is dependent upon their environmental factors listed above. I can tell you that those factors above are critical. BUT, for the sake of conversation...

The average baby requires two beetles, a Momma and a Papa. So, it you begin with 5,000 and you get lucky and you have a perfect and exact ratio of one male for every female, then you only have 2,500 actual baby makers.

Based upon 2,500 actual baby makers, during their 3 month average lifetime, who actually lay an average of 100 eggs, not the widely reported possible maximum of 500. During their 3 month lifespan, you will have 25,000 munching baby worms....

IF everything goes well, you will actually see approx. half of those mature and pupate... and IF they are not eaten, you can expect 90% of those to morph into beetles, and begin the next generation....

Did I mention "IF" all goes well? Yeah, it never really works out perfectly.

Yes they all die eventually.

Supplementing with feed depends upon the chicken's environment as well. Are they outdoors in a closed coup, free range, in cages indoors, etc.

OOPS hit the wrong button and it posted.....

OK, I was going to say that it would do you good to research the natural diet of the birds like we did, so that you can understand what you are feeding them and why. We raise in "down town," in a closed coup, and so we are forced to provide an all artificial, yet natural, diet without any help from our birdies.

What is their natural diet in the wild? What percentage is vegetation, and what types; and what percent is bugs, slugs, and other thugs?

When you buy bagged feed, what is the protein level? Meal worms are at least 40% protein, which is usually more than 2X the level of most bagged feeds. See my point?

In fact, most do not realize this, but for that very reason, the meal worms are a HUMAN food in most parts of the world today.

Bon a'petite!

 

[Latestarter]

Um I'm sure this is in here but what do they eat

? and how long before they pupa late? What percent of them should you keep for reproduction? How many puples do they have? will they ever die naturally? Do you need to supplement with feed if you give the chicken a cup of them? T

Or, They are called "meal" worms because they eat grains...any grains. Wheat bran seems to be their favorite but other grains work. Not to start the argument all over again... use what YOU prefer. I use a mix of wheat bran and oats (oatmeal). They will also eat paper, and just about anything else you put in there with them, except plastic and metal.

On average, from when they hatch from egg, to adult mealworm (larva) will take 3-8 weeks depending on temp, food, & moisture. Ideal temps seem to be mid 80s. over mid~ 90s could kill them, below ~70 makes them go dormant. Below ~ 55 could kill them (freeze dried?). As they grow, they will molt (shed their outer hard shell and grow a new one). This will happen approximately 12-14 times over their larval stage. Over time you may notice brown piles developing in the container... this is those shed exoskeletons. They are VERY light and the slightest breeze will get them flying up into your face, so be careful not to sneeze!

Each worm that survives will eventually pupate... one worm, one pupa. As pupa, they do not eat or drink, but must still be kept warm and have some moisture available or they will get "shrink wrapped" and not be able to break out when they become beetles. The pupa stage lasts several weeks. The pupae that hatch into beetles (you will lose some for a variety of reasons) will be almost white in color and darken to brown and then black over several days. They eat the same things as the worms (wheat bran/oats/grains/anything else in the container like newspaper, etc). Their mission in life is to propagate and that's exactly what they do for as long as they live... How long is that? well, that depends on genetics, temp, food, and moisture. In general, 2-4 months.

The eggs they lay are danged near microscopic and it will take a week or two for them to start hatching into worms that you won't be able to see they are so small. But you should be able to see the bedding/substrate (wheat bran) moving around which indicates something is under there.

The mealworms/pupae/beetles will die eventually. It could happen at any stage. Typically, we hope they die after achieving egg laying nirvana as beetles. Of course you can hasten their demise by feeding them to the birds. and yes, you can feed any and all of the 3 stages to your birds with no issues. The wise person will try to NOT feed the birds the pupae or beetles as we want them to lay their eggs for the next generation of worms.

These should NOT be the basis of the chicken's food... the meal worms should be the supplement. They should be a treat for the birds. A cup of mealworms is a LOT of mealworms!

Hope this helps. for all you could want to know, check here: http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

 

[OrganicChicken]

Hi All,

I just got 2000 mealworms, I want to raise and multiply them, ive been reading a lot of people posting about how to raise them and get them to reproduce. Seems like a lot of people use the 3 drawer plastic sterilite method. What do you think is the best enclosure for raising a LOT of mealworms, I have ten chickens and I want to be able to keep them happy during the long winters, so any tips of raising them on a large scale would be greatly appreciated. I also have a neighbor who has 16 birds so we will probably need quite a few. Right now they are being stored in the fridge until I figure out how to get them to reproduce properly.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi All,

I just got 2000 mealworms, I want to raise and multiply them, ive been reading a lot of people posting about how to raise them and get them to reproduce. Seems like a lot of people use the 3 drawer plastic sterilite method. What do you think is the best enclosure for raising a LOT of mealworms, I have ten chickens and I want to be able to keep them happy during the long winters, so any tips of raising them on a large scale would be greatly appreciated. I also have a neighbor who has 16 birds so we will probably need quite a few. Right now they are being stored in the fridge until I figure out how to get them to reproduce properly.

If you want to raise large numbers, I would use shallow plastic bins like those in the pics in this post. You won't need so many containers to start, just add more as your population grows. While you're waiting to get set up, I'd pull the mealworms out of the fridge and put them all into a single container with wheat bran to get them started. You can separate them out as you need later.

 

[kiliki]

I haven't read every post (there are so many!!), but I haven't seen anyone who is using mealworms tomeet the complete protein requirements for their birds. If I want to not have to bring in a feed and instead produce 100% of my chicken feed myself by sprouting seeds and providing mealworms as the main protein source (though I know there is some protein in grains) would that be feasible? If I have 5 layers and want to feed them year round on this system, what size mealworm operation am I looking at? What haven't I thought of? Has anyone attempted this?