Mealworm farming

[OkChickens]

My colony is start to Pupate! Well I think. I have seen a few solid white worms and a few odd shape white things. I think some to be beetles? Ill Upload Pics when I figure this new site out!

Nate

 

[OkChickens]

Drawer 1 about 5000


Drawer 2 about 5000


Drawer 3 about 1000






What is this? Morphing Pupa?



Thanks

Nate

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes that is a pupa.

 

[zzGypsy]

Originally Posted by Emily1220
I would be a little concerned about the eggs dropping down onto the 100 degree glass bottom.

that's an interesting thought... I'll have to put the thermometer on the bottom and see what temp it's running... I'm pretty sure it's not that warm, but I should find out, now that I've got my first few beetles.

so I put the thermometer under the heat mat (sat the bin on it) and the peak it's registeredin 2 days is 80 degrees. So I think with this heater we're fine, we shouldn't be roasting the babies and the eggs.

I think that should be fine. For the past several years I've kept mine on the back patio (shaded) during the summer where the temperatures exceed 100 F on most days. Even the 115+ F days don't seem to bother them much.

 

[Josie360]

lol. That is too funny. I do the same thing.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Welcome to the nuthouse...

*snicker*

No embellishments, but a lot of questions!

I'm still a newbie at this, so pardon my density, as the rock said to the water....

Why only 20 per drawer to start? How big/deep are the drawers?
How many larva do you get from each drawer, how often, this way?
How many chickens are you feeding and how many mealies per chicken per day?

Great description, by the way...!

And welcome again!

(ps...how many mealies do you have total, do you think?)

20 per drawer is a low amount? Hmmm.... I think I read somewhere that that's a good number. I often exceed it, if I have lots o' beetles. I think I'll try more. How many beetles per drawer do y'all start with?

This is the seven-drawer stack http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=408&ProductCategory=187&section=1 and this is the three-drawer stack http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=404&ProductCategory=186&section=1 I use. The drawers are just over 12" x 12". The deep drawers are for growing out, and the shallow drawers are for breeding. I've had zero (?) escapees, and the drawers are easy to handle, remove, clean, and replace. Pretty much ideal for a worm ranch, in my opinion.

It's hard to guess how many I'm getting per drawer, as I combine the hatchlings from all the breeder drawers into one. And when I harvest, I just fill up a small dish with them and take them out to the birds. It's "a lot" though! I usually have three grow out bins going, and use up about one a month.

I have about 25 chickens and 6 turkeys at the moment, usually more in summer. Also 8 ducks, but they stay up at night eating moths, so I give them their greens and pea treats at the same time I give mealworms to the chickens and turkeys. (A hanging lamp about 18" off the ground = free insects for ducks.) I give treats about 2-3 times a week, not daily - maybe 8-10 per bird?



Originally Posted by hannakat


Thanks, Hannakat!

 

[Josie360]

I quickly step on the escapees so my husband doesn't see them.

This is the post I meant to reference a bit earlier when I posted Still figuring out the new system. Now maybe I will make a bit more sense.

 

[Kassaundra]

Has anyone got their system big enough that they can feed out a cup or two a day yet?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Well, considering that I do sell some every week and feed a small amount to my growing chicks I would say I may be close. But I have 12 bins going now and am still no where close to being able to get them to mature fast enough to feed EVERY day to my chicks. However, I have 5 brooders in the barn and 2 in the house with probably around 100-130 chicks growing up.

The bins are swarming with small mealies but as soon as they get big I sell them or feed them.
Now we are working on a new system for growing more out at a decent rate but haven't got it set up yet. Too much going on right now but we hope to get it set up within the next month and then I will take photos and show everyone here. We hope to get enough growing to be able to feed out at least a few cups a day. Can you imagine how many mealies that would be?

Oh yeah, and we have the bins marked as to when the eggs were laid in there and we took beetles out. Considering the humidity and cooler air we have wee babies after 10 weeks. I was hoping to have closer to full grown meales now. Even another 2 weeks won't have these puppies....er, I mean, mealies big enough to feed but it is fun to put the dates on the bins and see how quickly you get teenies flowing around and then watch them mature.

 

[OkChickens]

Well, considering that I do sell some every week and feed a small amount to my growing chicks I would say I may be close. But I have 12 bins going now and am still no where close to being able to get them to mature fast enough to feed EVERY day to my chicks. However, I have 5 brooders in the barn and 2 in the house with probably around 100-130 chicks growing up.

The bins are swarming with small mealies but as soon as they get big I sell them or feed them.
Now we are working on a new system for growing more out at a decent rate but haven't got it set up yet. Too much going on right now but we hope to get it set up within the next month and then I will take photos and show everyone here. We hope to get enough growing to be able to feed out at least a few cups a day. Can you imagine how many mealies that would be?

Oh yeah, and we have the bins marked as to when the eggs were laid in there and we took beetles out. Considering the humidity and cooler air we have wee babies after 10 weeks. I was hoping to have closer to full grown meales now. Even another 2 weeks won't have these puppies....er, I mean, mealies big enough to feed but it is fun to put the dates on the bins and see how quickly you get teenies flowing around and then watch them mature.

How many Meales do you think you have? How many do you put in each bin? I would like to eventually be able to feed about a 1/4-1/2 a coffee can a day to my chickens. Or i will sell them like WestKnollAmy does. Do you just auction them off?

Nate