Mealworm farming

[binders]

To the keepers one a one bin colony - How do you separate out the mealies for feeding? Do you sift them out and remove any of the bettles that you also collect or what else do you do? I have both the 3 drawer set-up and the one bin set-up and am now getting my first harvestable mealies from the one bin set-up and am wondering what is the best way to get the big mealies out without getting the smaller ones and also completely disturbing the colony?

 

[HenCrazyMom]

My DS and I simply reach in and scoop out what we want to feed the girls/boys.( I keep forgetting that I have 2 roosters now too

). I would use a strainer or sifter but DS likes the feel of the mealies crawling in his hand. It is an amazing sensory experience and one I will not deprive him of especially when he has so many other sensory issues. I just try to guide the size of the container he uses to transport them to the coop/run. He loves taking pieces of bananas and coating them with meal worms for his chickens.

 

[NightsInWhiteSilkies]

Okay so I went to petco and bought the meal worms and they had a container that has a removable lid to it but it also has two smaller lids at the top that just lift up so i can drop in some fruit or potato or something. I bought a 100 of them and put them in a small amount of the wheat germ and the bigger portion of the wheat germ and oats is in the freezer for a couple of days then Im going to put them after screening them out of the wheat germ in there temporarily for them out and put them into the container! I bought some apples and a couple of potatos to start.
I also bought some crickets and OMG! My chicks are just 4 weeks old. No others so just 3 silkie babies and OMG, they went NUTTTTS over the crickets!
It was soooooo funny and OMG can those chicks move fast all the way from across the other side of the room! It was like they zooomed in and ZAP! GONE!
I gave them also a couple of meal worms and they went NUTSSSS over that too!
Im hooked on this already and am going to be giving them live insects daily!lol....
I did put a slice of apple in the temporary container and most of them havent even moved from their spot. Im wondering are they going to die on me? They were in the fridge at petco so does it take a while for them to come out of hibernation or something in cold conditions? I hope so! I put them in a drawer as it was dark and warm in my bedroom...about 72 degrees. I left the drawer open a tad but its dark in my room. This is for now until I defrost the wheat germ and get them in their regular container.

Thankyou so much you all and also the private messages from some of you already to help answer some of my questions on this!
Im going to be reading more and more about meal worms but reading the three members that hannakat posted on the first page of this thread---
Gallo Del Cielo's page- https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/vie … -mealworms
Hannakat- https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/vie … xperiences
Amy's page- http://www.westknollfarm.com

So very helpful,very easy to understand when reading plus the photos helped alot too and just great info for a newbie like myself! Thankyou!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
I call mine the girls all the time and have one roo. I ordered all pullets, but Oreo slipped by. I'm glad he did though he is such a neat boy.

 

[Kassaundra]

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We got our first chicks at the end of Sept last year. (guess year before last now) We had such an amazing time finding bugs for them and bringing them into the brooder. We would go out in the evening and catch grasshoppers and a bowl of grass and turn the hoppers lose in the grass in the brooder. And we would dig up grubs (we were preparing fence and digging anyway) and a bowl of dirt and bury the grubs under the dirt and just watch them hunt and catch them, play insect football, it was better then TV.

 

[NightsInWhiteSilkies]

I just went and checked on the meal worms and OMGGGGGGGG! The apple is covered with them! It was a trip as soon as I pulled them out and into the light they all scattered into the wheat germ so I know their alive and eating!!! Yaaaaaa! Im a bug lady now too! hahahahaah. One bug at a time!

 

[colonel sander]

Well I am all set to go also. I picked up all my supplies today and will wait for Amy to ship the worms

For those who are looking to do a one bin and want an aquarium Petco has them on sale for a dollar a gallon. I was there looking for a lid for the one I have and saw the sale. Not a bad deal for what you get.

 

[NightsInWhiteSilkies]

Quote:
Ya I went to petco too and saw the aquariums and the sale but in the reptile area they had plastic containers the size of a fish tank but the top had little slits in it long ways and also two big plastic lids you could just lift up and the main lid you could jsut pull off easily. i went with that and it was a little more but it was tempting ot not do the fish tanks!

 

[Emily1220]

Nights...., I got mine a few days ago from petco too. There was so little activity the first day I was wondering if I did something wrong in the set up. But then with Amy and Hanna encouraging me to wait and see.....OMG. My mealies are out and crawling all over the bin. I put a piece of bread in there and that is what is attracting them. Well, that and now the apple and carrot!! It is so fun checking on them several times a day.

 

[NightsInWhiteSilkies]

Thankyou Emily!
Yes I too thought that I did something wrong or bought dead ones and I just went in a bit ago and checked on them and their all over the apple i put in there! They move really fast for a worm too when the light hits them and they dont seem to like it. lol...I did kind of did a strobe light on them with the light switch just to see what happened and it was like they came out, went in, really fast. Disco light ball and strobe light just like the eighties! All I need was the Saturday Night Live song playing in the background....Night fever, night fever...we know how to do it! Just kidding on the disco ball and song.... got carried away.... haha.