Mealworm farming

[Chaneys Ranch]

We got lots more.... $5 dresser $5 chest of drawers and a free night stand. My mother ended up getting lots of free stuff when it started raining and she saw the boxes that said FREE. LOL great deals all the way around. They were moving and didn't want to take it with them.

Awesome!! I love finding those kind of sales.. i do a lot of rummage sales in the summer and occasionally run into one that's fed up and doesn't want to put it all away. I am that way too, if it doesn't sell, let someone make use of it. Last stop, it goes to goodwill.

 

[onafixedincome]

If it's the same supplier as my Petco purchases, there are teeny little black roundish beetles in there that I make it a point to give to the chickens first thing. They are NOT darkling beetles (mealworms), but something else.

As for the rest, no reason you can't have as much fun as I am--that's the same way I started! Just please make sure you wear a mask when you have the container open or are working with the contents!

 

[mistyt14]

you want the beetles. If you do a search online you can find what they will look like. Once you got beetles soon you will have teeny tiny meal worms, will take up to a few weeks before you notice the babies after they are born they are so small

 

[Bmmjz Chicks]

Thanks, I don't know what beetles I got in with the worms, but they don't look like that. I'll feed them to the chickens.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks, I don't know what beetles I got in with the worms, but they don't look like that. I'll feed them to the chickens.

post a pic of your "beetles". Get as clearly focused as you can and the crop to enlarge. I bet someone will be able to "confirm or deny" for you

 

[DMRippy]

Thanks, I don't know what beetles I got in with the worms, but they don't look like that. I'll feed them to the chickens.

Smart move!

 

[cluck-cluck]

Oh my gosh, I'm almost as excited as when my first chicks hatched! I looked into my bin, which only had pupa and beetles in it, and saw the ground moving, I grabbed a bit of bran, and saw it moving in my palm, so I sifted through it and finally saw what was moving! Little 3/16" or so worms! They were hard to see, even though they have length, because they're so skinny! I wonder how long before they're big enough to feed my chicks? I'm also wondering if I should take the rest of my beetles in the original bin and start a 3rd bin up, LOL

Bmmjz Chicks, The beetles do start out very light, almost white and work there way through brown and finally black, so they can look different. I hope they weren't something else hijacking your feed!

 

[DMRippy]

Oh my gosh, I'm almost as excited as when my first chicks hatched! I looked into my bin, which only had pupa and beetles in it, and saw the ground moving, I grabbed a bit of bran, and saw it moving in my palm, so I sifted through it and finally saw what was moving! Little 3/16" or so worms! They were hard to see, even though they have length, because they're so skinny! I wonder how long before they're big enough to feed my chicks? I'm also wondering if I should take the rest of my beetles in the original bin and start a 3rd bin up, LOL

Bmmjz Chicks, The beetles do start out very light, almost white and work there way through brown and finally black, so they can look different. I hope they weren't something else hijacking your feed!

All the beetles and pupae I move to my BREEDER bins. I let them live out their lives making me babies in that bin. I dump the tray under it every 2 weeks.

 

[CaliTX]

I just started my mealworm farm this morning! I'm so excited!

I fed 3 of my starters to my barred rock hen, thats the closest she's ever come to me before! I had to toss them to her a bit but she was definitely looking at me like she wanted more afterwards.

 

[Bmmjz Chicks]

I can’t take a picture of my mystery beetles because I already fed them to my chickens, but they did not look like the picture posted above.
I’ve done a fair amount of research online about breeding mealworms and I ran across a “system” where you place the beetles in a container with a window screen bottom with another bin underneath. The eggs are supposed to fall through the screen and into the lower bin. This prevents the beetles from eating the eggs and small mealworms. Has anyone tried this, or do you think it would work? It sounds like an easy way to separate the beetles from baby mealworms.