Mealworm farming

[TerryLou]

I have actually been thinking about starting one big bin vs 3 drawer method. I don't have a lot of time & was hoping to let nature take it's course. My other thought was get a school involved... science project with Chickens to benefit

 

[aggie9296]

mine is a low maintence 1 bin. I do separate some of the pupae that I can catch before they turn into beetles. they tend to get their heads eaten off if I don't.

 

[TerryLou]

I will try to keep that in mind. Wouldn't want anyone losing their head. Still very new to all this... chickens, mealies. Mostly been winging it except for all the wise words from BYCers !

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Please check out Gallo del Cielo's page and info. I consider him to be our resident expert. He hasn't separated any of the stages for 20+ years and has a great, thriving colony! Don't know that I'll ever match 20 years... DH says we're downsizing in about 7 more years, which means bye bye chickies

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=56638-how-to-raise-mealworms

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
Your wormies have been shipped and I also PMed you the tracking ##.
Hope your chickens will love them. They are beautiful golden large.

The wormies arrived Today in the mail. Luckily I was off work today so it seemed it was meant to be. They were alive and well and very well packaged. Only saw 1 black dried up worm and maybe 3 pupae on top of that

I was out an about this morning buying supplies for the worm farm planning on this setup.

Anke is superb in communication and packaging. She knows just how to ship....they made it cross country from California to NC in 2 days and here in NC its in the mid to upper 90's today. Way to go crazy huhn! Thanks so much I am very excited to get this started

Thank You so much for all your kind words, Buffy GRL.
I am so glad that your wormies arrived safe and sound. What a great surprise: the USPS being faster than their tracking number and their reputation!!!

There were about 10 to 20% free Extras in the package, so I am sure there your chickens deserve a snack from this package without you being short for the start of your mealworm farm. I wish you good luck with breeding your own mealies and if you have any questions in the future that might not have been answered on this wonderful thread here, feel free to contact me at any time.

 

[feliciamckee]

More Uncle Jim's worm drama! Mine actually came on time yesterday about lunch time. I have been busy and haven't had time to check the posts, but it looks like others had the same experience as I did. I ordered 1000 red wiggler composting worms and they were great! They were all alive and I didn't count them but there were tons. They are all snuggled in the cellar in their new dark cool bin. My mealies are a different story. I did count those and out of 1000 only 440 were alive. Awww! Yes, they did stink coming out of the box so I was expecting to find them dead. They were black and cruchy. After getting the live ones settled in, I called Uncle Jim and told him. He was friendly to me also and said he was sending out another 1000 on Monday. I told him if it was as hot, maybe we should just wait. I will call him Sat. to decide if we should hold off shipping. Well, it may not be his fault. I will give him the benefit of the doubt but we will see how it goes.

 

[simplyscrambled]

I ordered from sandrad1one on ebay. The first shipment was the same experience, with lots dead and black. I emailed her, and even though she can't help with the shipping conditions, she sent me 1/2 of the original order of 1000 for free and I got them today! She added a cooling packet and insulation, and they ALL were alive, active and healthy!!

 

[Kassaundra]

Got my first pupa today, and two at that! Woo Hoo, my husband picked them up for me at a local pet store so I wasn't sure if they were treated w/ the "non pupating" chemicals or not, he doesn't ask questions .............. ever! I only got a couple hundred and about half died.

So without further ado meet Adam and Eve:

My commision the them is to "be fruitful, become many, and fill the bin ...... "

Hope HE doesn't mind the paraphrase.

 

[Hunterlauren93]

I have gotten 14 pupae and about 10 beetles. its slowly but surely coming along. I finally got the 2000 mealworms from the local boy i traded a 10 gallon tank for. They are all tiny tiny babies. But i guess you gotta start somewhere, and i really cant complain because i didnt pay for them. I would like to add some more mealies to my colony. Does anyone know any good places, or people to buy them from that dont have crazy outlandish shipping prices? I was PMing someone about them on here, I forgot her user name and for some reason the messages arnt showing up in my messages.

I use the drawer system thing, the drawer i have my beetles in i cut the bottom out the drawer and i put screen(like window screens) and hot glued it, so when the beetles lay the eggs and they hatch the mealworms fall into the next drawer the mealworm baby drawer. It was an old drawer system thing. I am also doing super worms.

not the best pic but it will do. drawers read, Feeders, Mealworms, Superworms, Pupa, Darkling beetles/ mealworm B, Baby mealworms, Superworm beetles, baby supers, Supplies.

 

[Hunterlauren93]

Quote:
Thats the brand i have. I used a box cutter and kept going over the line i made. It took a while. I also used a Cutco knife( the ones that dont brake apparantly) and used it as a mini saw. It broke the cutco knife.Thank God they are lifetime guaranteed