Mealworm farming

[aggie9296]

I got some in the fridge and accidently killed about 3000 because I forgot to punch holes in lid. i now have them in the freezer. the chickens eat them frozen just as well as the fresh ones. plus they eat the bran cereal i have them in. have not thawed them back out, as they will probably get mushy.

so now i have 3000 in freezer, 4000 in fridge, and another 10-15 k in big bin.

and after changing out the bedding, no recurrence of the mites. still have a misting of oil just in case.

 

[tmasker]

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Check out page 3 of this thread to see my 3-drawer system. I have pictures of it scattered in the first few pages of the thread.

Yep, gotta watch for lurking chickens now....never know when they're gonna take you down and frisk you for some mealies!

LOL... checked on the girls today and they went scrambling for the ramp where a few of those worms have fallen in the cracks. I almost believe they were trying to eat them before I could see them.

I showed my husband the page with the information. My husband is sending me out to get the drawers soon! <I figure since I am allergic to surgical gloves and won't be touching the live worms with my bare hands....HE gets to deal with them>

 

[Mike32]

Got home earlier and opened my box of worms that came today. I was very disappointed. They were all black and dried out. I put some potatoes in right away to try and find any live ones but nothing. Emailed Uncle Jims to see what we can do. The odor I smelled earlier in my office must have been the dead worms. They must have died in transit because I had them inside with me in 75 degree ac. Hopefully they will send me some more.

 

[keabler]

Hannakat, when you posted your pictures and your method, you mentioned that you cut out the top drawer so that the freshly hatched worms drop to the second drawer to grow into larger larvae. My first question is what type or size of screen did you use, and have you found that to be better than moving the beetles every couple weeks?
Second question is since time has passed, what would or have you done differently?
Thank you,
keabler

 

[fuzidragonbunnie]

We live in Southern Nevada. One of the ways I catch bugs (they're a water beetle that look a lot like a cockroach) is I take a coffee can and fill the bottom about an inch high with laying crumbles or sometimes mix a little of our high quality dog food in, dampen the food and leave it outside out of reach of our dogs. The next morning I have quite a few of the little critters for our hens and throw the whole can ful of goodies out to them along with their regular feed. The girls absolutely love it.

 

[jomoncon]

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Love your idea of catching bugs!! New Orleans is another place with a lot of bugs. I'm going to give this a try.

 

[hannakat]

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Oh my

how awful. I know another worm dealer was holding off on sending them out because of the heat. They need to ship them overnight maybe???? So sorry!

 

[hannakat]

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Hi keabler! We used the standard size that would be used in as window screen.

There is no need to move the beetles....just leave them until they die. According to what I've read, the beetles typically live 2-3 months, at which time I planned to dump the remaining substrate into the second drawer. The worms I find in the top drawer get scooped up and moved into the second drawer. I check under the pieces of vegetable to find them.

Hummmm... The only thing I would have done differently might be to use the ground 'mixture' in both the second and third drawers. The worms growing in that really seem to be doing good or it could be that I've been able to monitor them better.

This has not only been about raising them for my chickens but because of my nature, it became an awesome experience to monitor the stages and find out first hand what these are about. On that level I would have changed putting a 'catcher' of some sort in the second drawer from day 1 to see how many eggs/wee wormies fell through. I just started doing that last week and am seeing a significant number of eggs vs wee wormies. What's more surprising is that the beetles in the top drawer are now 3 months old and are still going strong in terms of health (as far as I can tell without being able to give them physicals hahahahaaa) and are still reproducing splendidly.

I do have a colony in a large single bin since there were only so many beetles I was willing to put in the top drawer. I'm semi-house bound so it's been a joy to have this opportunity. Never expected it to be so much fun...just wanted worm for the chickadees!

Sorry for being so long winded but I hope that answers your question!!

 

[hannakat]

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Love your idea of catching bugs!! New Orleans is another place with a lot of bugs. I'm going to give this a try.

x2

This sound great!

 

[DMRippy]

What size screen do you use? I have some old sliding door screens I could use but is that too small??? Would like to set this up today if someone can help.