Mealworm farming

[hannakat]

G-Man ~ Saaaa-weeeet! Love the set up and your description. I'm so glad the thread helped get you going. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:

I do the same thing gale65! Love watching them and hearing them rustle about in the substrate and newspaper. The only time they don't make the surface go level again is when I'm running out of worms. Get way down in numbers and boy is it quiet. One of my grow out containers is almost empty and it's getting hard to find them.....it's like hunting! A farmer and a hunter! yey

The girls had to wait while I sifted through it today. I just might let them have the container tomorrow to finish 'em off. I'll be buying some more in the near future to gear up for next winter. I hope to be better supplied next time, and having just added 2 more girls to my little flock makes a big difference. It took all of 2 seconds for the new girls to fall in love with me because of the mealworms. If anyone wants to train their chicken to do something....use mealies.

 

[OkChickens]

I just bought a Pair of Chocolate Orps last week and They were not to fond of me at first, now after feeding them a few mealworms for about 4 days they about knock down the door on there pen when they see me walk in the Shop. They are good for bribing chickens!

Nate

 

[G-Man]

Congrats on your new colony! They grow very fast!

Nate

Thanks Nate. You're not kidding.. I just finished sifting through the top bin and found 28 more pupae. I'm pretty anxious to see how long it will take them to turn into beetles with the warm environment they're in.

 

[G-Man]

G-Man ~ Saaaa-weeeet! Love the set up and your description. I'm so glad the thread helped get you going. Looking forward to your updates.

Trish, Thank you for the compliments and all the great information.
Quite the thread you've started. 346 pages and counting....

Awesome!!

 

[AliciaM]

A couple questions.....Ive got 2 bins full of worms.. The first one started out with about 1000 small worms.. realy small... I figured they would shed, grow, shed, grow, etc.. for a while before they turned into beetles...Ive only had them for a bit over a month.. Ive already got a couple small beetles in there..They have shed at least once also....Are they just going to be small worms?? Also.. they dont seem to eat much.. They are in oatmeal.. And I give them apples, carrots and potatos.. whatever I have in the fridge when its time for fresh veggies..I hardly ever see many worms on them.. Does that mean there getting enough moisture? Or just not like what im offering?? Any other ideas?

My second bin is only 500 worms, but I got realy big ones.. Not super worms, just big ones.. I was told they would turn into beetles realy soon.... about 75% are getting ready to turn....

In both bins, the majority stay on top of the oatmeal.. And in the bigger worms bin, they crawl between the layers of newspaper that I put in there to block out light..or on top of the egg cartons.. Is this normal???

There are a few dead ones in both bins..Enough for me to notice that there are dead ones, but not enough for me to freak out thinking they were all dieing..

Should I change their substrate??

 

[Emily1220]

Alicia, everything sounds good to me. The oatmeal is fine dont change it. If you are giving them a carrot, potato, apple, lettuce whatever every couple days that is enough. Be patient, they will grow. and even small worms will turn to beetles which will lay eggs and give you more wormies! You are doing great!

 

[Ivywoods]

I have a question. Why is the wheat bran better than oatmeal? It seems wheat bran doesn't have near the nutritional value of oatmeal. The bran is mostly fiber, isn't it? I have a single bin system, but am getting quite a few beetles, so I'm considering moving up to the 3 bin and using the wheat bran in the two worm bins, oatmeal in the bettle bin, as stated by several of the farmers here.


I'm just not sure why the wheat bran would be better. I haven't been able to locate any around here and will have to order it if I use it.

 

[In2Ice]

Check places like Sprouts, Whole Foods and Fresh and Easys. They usually all have wheat b ran in their bulk bins. You can also find boxes of it in the grocery stores by the oats, farrina etc. It is quite a bit more money that way though. I think I payed .69 cents/lb at Sprouts for mine

 

[SherrieT]

Did you check the Feed Stores? That's where I got mine here in Tucson AZ