Mealworm farming

[Lynn Manes]

People have had some success using oatmeal for them, I would think that would work better than using rice flour (or any flour actually), the worms tunnel under the bedding/food, so you don't want anything that will pack very tight and flour has the potential to smother the worms (I would think) while they are tunneling around.

Thank you. They now make gluten free oats. I could try putting a little in there to see if they would like it. I am allergic to normal grains-white flour, wheat, barley, oats & rye. Should the oats be ground up or just put in straight from the bag? I bought gf oats to bake with but I don't care for the taste of oatmeal. But honestly, I rarely bake either;so if my mealworms will like them then the oats wont be wasted.Gf food products can be pretty pricey.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: A wheat bran. Most feed stores should carry it as horse people like to m ake bran mashes for their horses. Just understand that this is not human grade food; it will have a higher particle count of contaminants. Just so you know.

 

[DrTacosMD]

Hi All,
I realize most of you on this thread already have meal worm farms set up, but in case anyone here is new to it and wants to get an idea of the timeline and effort required:

I started my meal worm bin in early March 2015. And now (early August 2015) my farm is at the point where I can regularly feed to my hens. It took about 5 months for me. All I needed to do was grab a big plastic bin, add wheat bran, and put in sliced potatoes once a week.

Not much work required, when you think about it. And I've heard of people not even adding moisture sources, but I think you need to have decently high humidity to do that.

For those that don't want to put in a lot of work and don't mind the farm taking ~4-5 months to get set up, I recommend doing what I did and then just using a spray bottle instead of the potatoes. I didn't separate the beetles from the worms for the first few months and still got a lot of baby worms. Again, if you don't mind taking longer, don't bother separating them. If you want it fast then separate. Spray a few times in the mornings only. Let the bin completely dry out by noon.

TL;DR:
Want mealworms in ~4-5 months with little to no effort?
1000mealworms, large plastic bin, wheat bran ( or any other food), spray bottle.

Anyways, I hope this helps any that want a very low effort approach to mealworms.

 

[pinkmartin73]

Hi All,
I realize most of you on this thread already have meal worm farms set up, but in case anyone here is new to it and wants to get an idea of the timeline and effort required:

I started my meal worm bin in early March 2015. And now (early August 2015) my farm is at the point where I can regularly feed to my hens. It took about 5 months for me. All I needed to do was grab a big plastic bin, add wheat bran, and put in sliced potatoes once a week.

Not much work required, when you think about it. And I've heard of people not even adding moisture sources, but I think you need to have decently high humidity to do that.

For those that don't want to put in a lot of work and don't mind the farm taking ~4-5 months to get set up, I recommend doing what I did and then just using a spray bottle instead of the potatoes. I didn't separate the beetles from the worms for the first few months and still got a lot of baby worms. Again, if you don't mind taking longer, don't bother separating them. If you want it fast then separate. Spray a few times in the mornings only. Let the bin completely dry out by noon.

TL;DR:
Want mealworms in ~4-5 months with little to no effort?
1000mealworms, large plastic bin, wheat bran ( or any other food), spray bottle.

Anyways, I hope this helps any that want a very low effort approach to mealworms.

I started in may 2015. Its the last day of july and Ive had micro babies for a couple weeks. I started with 5000 worms. But I fed a lot to the flock. No big worms left. Lots and lots of beetles. Still some pupae. I bought my mealworms as mixed sizes.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Hi All,
I realize most of you on this thread already have meal worm farms set up, but in case anyone here is new to it and wants to get an idea of the timeline and effort required:

I started my meal worm bin in early March 2015. And now (early August 2015) my farm is at the point where I can regularly feed to my hens. It took about 5 months for me. All I needed to do was grab a big plastic bin, add wheat bran, and put in sliced potatoes once a week.

Not much work required, when you think about it. And I've heard of people not even adding moisture sources, but I think you need to have decently high humidity to do that.

For those that don't want to put in a lot of work and don't mind the farm taking ~4-5 months to get set up, I recommend doing what I did and then just using a spray bottle instead of the potatoes. I didn't separate the beetles from the worms for the first few months and still got a lot of baby worms. Again, if you don't mind taking longer, don't bother separating them. If you want it fast then separate. Spray a few times in the mornings only. Let the bin completely dry out by noon.

TL;DR:
Want mealworms in ~4-5 months with little to no effort?
1000mealworms, large plastic bin, wheat bran ( or any other food), spray bottle.

Anyways, I hope this helps any that want a very low effort approach to mealworms.

Dumb question probably, but are the potatoes cooked or raw?

Where did you get your mealworms originally?

Do you keep the box open or lidded?

 

[DrTacosMD]

Dumb question probably, but are the potatoes cooked or raw?

Where did you get your mealworms originally?

Do you keep the box open or lidded?

Not dumb at all. Raw. I bought a few thousand from a local pet store but you can get them shipped from online.

My boxes are all open but it's probably much safer to keep them covered with some sort of netting or mesh. I do sprinkle DE on the ground around the Mealworm farm to prevent ants and earwigs from getting in.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Not dumb at all. Raw. I bought a few thousand from a local pet store but you can get them shipped from online.

My boxes are all open but it's probably much safer to keep them covered with some sort of netting or mesh. I do sprinkle DE on the ground around the Mealworm farm to prevent ants and earwigs from getting in.

Do you keep the boxes outdoors? Do you have problems with any other mealworm predators getting in?

 

[DuckyGaze]

Is there a tread discussing raising mealworms? I've looked around but can't seem to find anything recent.

I started a mealworm farm a month ago and have so many pupae that I'm getting worried! BUT, I want to be able to freeze many, many thousands for next winter since my girls don't like snow and there's no bugs to eat in the winter anyway. Don't know when enough will be enough and in the meantime, my mealies are growing fast and furious!



UPDATES
**** BYCer's mealworm farms ..... condensed information from 3 perspectives!! *****

Gallo Del Cielo's page: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-raise-mealworms

My page: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mealworm-fam-experiences

Amy's page: http://www.westknollfarm.com


Some basic and often asked information:

Life cycle stages... this is relative to conditions such as temperature, food source, etc:
Egg Incubation: 4-19 days (usually 4-7). Another source says 20-40 days
Larva: 10 weeks. Visible after about a week
Pupa: 6-18 (18-24?) days
Beetle and Egg Laying: 8-12 weeks (followed by death). Egg laying starts 4-19 days (average 12) after emergence

Reliable sources for buying meal worms (in no particular order):
BYC members:
crazy huhn: [email protected]
Amy: www.westknollfarm.com email is [email protected]
exoticnutrition.com
speedyworm.com
southernbaitworms.com



7/23/11 - ETA: My colonies are in full force and many have joined the 'farm'!

So much wonderful information and insight!


Trish

Can we use wheat bran from Quakers? The one we buy at the grocery store?

 

[hannakat]

Quaker wheat bran is expensive comparably. Quaker oats is a cheaper alternative, I have lots of wheat bran and if anyone wants to purchase some just send me a msg. It's easy to ship.

Raw potato...everything is in raw, natural form.

I cannot keep mine outside because of the humidity. A rise in temp is great but when you add in humidity the recipe is perfect for mites and those I DO NOT want. If you live in a dry area that's hot, then that's perfect but you must cover them. Cut ventilation holes and hot glue screening material on. That way you can keep a lid on it.

Hope this helps.

 

[DrTacosMD]

Do you keep the boxes outdoors? Do you have problems with any other mealworm predators getting in?

Nope, in my barn. You could keep it in the garage. If I kept it outdoors there'd be so many predators, pest, mold, contamination, etc I assume.

I don't have any predator problems with the mealworms in my barn. Just sprinkle DE around and keep the doors closed and it's all good.