Mealworm farming

[Gypsi]

If a mealworm bin starts to stink, I'm thinking it is time to clean. The stinky one has a few large worms, a lot of adult bugs, and it just got smelly in the last couple of days. How do I clean this?

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Every week I will collect the eggs and babies that fall through and put them in a bin. When I empty that I will put clean bran and start a new one every week. That will make it easy to have bins of about the same age in separate bins for 10 weeks. I am going to sell them to locals and people that want to start a mealworm farm. Shipping these things seems like more trouble than it is worth. When I get too many, I will feed them to my chickens LOL

 

[Gypsi]

I bought 1000 worms from West Knoll Amy in November I think, set them up in 2 plastic bins in a rolling drawer unit, with wheat bran. They came with both worms and a few beetles, I gradually moved all the beetles to one drawer, so they would lay the eggs there, and I have a rotating worm farm that does need its first cleanup.So far I have just sterilized (in the freezer once, microwave second time) wheat bran, and added, as well as adding fresh veggie or fruit once a week. I don't know how many worms i have fed to my hens, but it was a lot. I have way more than 1000 worms right now, and my odor issue might be that broccoli stalk they are presently working on, but it is probably time for a cleanup. How do I avoid throwing out eggs. I've probably got 400 adult beetles right now.

Gypsi

 

[Mealwormer]

Update: Currently I have about 400 beetles in the bin! I've had somewhat of a beetle explosion these past days... Picking out about 30 beetles a day, some times more! The past 24hrs, 35 beetles have hatched, and I have picked out 81 meal worm pupa out of the meal worm bin! WOOHOOO! I still have tons of worms waiting to pupate too...

Just a tip, keep the beetles in a dark or dimmed, warm enclosure, with medium humidity levels They really enjoy 80 degree weather from what I am noticing. These beetles mate like crazy, way more than the ones I had from a long time ago, and I believe it's due to higher humidity levels coming from the melons and other wet fruits and vegetables I've been using. Seriously, every time I check the bin there's at least three couples mating that I can see. I try not to check the bins much though, since I've managed to interrupt quite a few who were doing their thing. They stop mating and run away when light comes in their bin, or when I check under the hides they are in.

Next venture: Super Worm breeding! Getting 1,000 tomorrow... Is there a big super worm thread on this forum, do chickens enjoy their super worms like they do mealies? I've checked and couldn't find a big thread. They seem to be even easier to breed than meal worms from what I have read, although some people say the opposite on various sites.

 

[Sprinkles212]

Now fly maggots...that would peak my gross-out meter!

 

[DMRippy]

I used a hair dryer on COOL and blew out most of the dead bugs and shed skins. Worked pretty well. Got enough to feed 3 pens of 50 chicks each pen

Anybody use another method that works? Other than the "if they don't crawl out" method

 

[Chickenpoor]

I used a hair dryer on COOL and blew out most of the dead bugs and shed skins. Worked pretty well. Got enough to feed 3 pens of 50 chicks each pen

Anybody use another method that works? Other than the "if they don't crawl out" method

My sister comes and stays at my house every other week end since her BF works 3rd shift and she usually messes with the worms and cleans them out while she is here. My bins have lids and she has discovered that if you take the lid off and wait a minute or two all the live ones will run for cover and bury them selves to get away from the light and the dead ones will remain on top and she then picks them out by hand. This usually get rid of all of them because most of the time all the dead bugs are top unless the live ones have buried them by moving the substrate around.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: She can come stay at my farm and do that for me too... if she wants! Have hundreds of thousands! I have picked them out by hand too. The hair dryer blows them to one corner and I can pick out the live ones if needed.

Her method would work to move the live ones to make blowing easier.

 

[Chickenpoor]

She can come stay at my farm and do that for me too... if she wants! Have hundreds of thousands! I have picked them out by hand too. The hair dryer blows them to one corner and I can pick out the live ones if needed.

Her method would work to move the live ones to make blowing easier.

Lol, she likes to do it now. I only have a large bin that is maybe close to 2' X3' and a thing that has three drawers and each one is about 1' X 1'. I got 1,000 mealies from amy a couple months ago and now they have all turned to beatles and most of them have done their thing and have died off and when I open it and move the substrate it looks like there is a million worms in it. I don't know if she will like it so much when I have to divide the big bin up and she has more to clean out when they start turning to beatles and then die.

 

[TonySorrento]

Well I have tens of thousands of these creatures now!!! Anyone want to buy any?