Mealworms: live vs. dried

[bigrob83]

interesting
we spoil our birds but they will go crazy for either live or dried, and thats chickens, quail, and doves
we do grow our own mealworms but I just cant get them to reproduce fast enough to meet demand I guess

 

[CrazyFish]

I would love to know how to grow mealworms, seeing as we are getting four new baby chicks on April 30th

.
I would be starting from scratch, so any tips you can pass my way would be appreciated.
I just fed the girls some dried ones this morning, and they look to me so gratefully when they are done eating them.
Anyway, nice to chat with a fellow chicken lover

 

[tinkatwerp]

So I have zero experience with quail, but I am very experienced with meal worms. I have been feeding them to geckos and sugar gliders for years, so if you want the secret to cheap meal worms here it is. Get a tupaware of any shape or size, fill it 3" deep with whatever cheap grain material you have (oatmeal, bran, cheap cereals, throw a potato in there for water, and finally dump some meal worms in there. The last step is to stick it somewhere out of the way and forget about it for a month. Tada! You have a mealworm farm.

 

[practic]

So I have zero experience with quail, but I am very experienced with meal worms. I have been feeding them to geckos and sugar gliders for years, so if you want the secret to cheap meal worms here it is. Get a tupaware of any shape or size, fill it 3" deep with whatever cheap grain material you have (oatmeal, bran, cheap cereals, throw a potato in there for water, and finally dump some meal worms in there. The last step is to stick it somewhere out of the way and forget about it for a month. Tada! You have a mealworm farm.

That sounds very simple. I will try it.

 

[subhanalah]

Rainbow farms has GREAT deals on mealworms. I bought 5000 for a very reasonable amount. It was less than a month ago and I already have beetles!

FYI though, do NOT buy the "giant mealworms" as they've been treated so they get very big and NEVER pupate, so you can't breed those.

 

[Quail Jailer]

I don't recommend giving mealworms before 5-6 weeks. (coturnix)

The chicks love them so much that they start trying to eat anything that looks like a mealworm, which in a brooder, is his peers toes.

once they get the habit of toe picking it can be difficult or impossible to stop.

 

[CrazyFish]

That sounds easy enough! Once they get to the mealworm stage, do you have to "fish" for them, or do the worms rise to the top?

 

[CrazyFish]

So, I gave the chicks dried mealworms…at first they ignored them…now? It's their oh-so-special treat! I don't feed them a lot, but they all manage to get some and have not bitten anyone's toes afterwards. So, it worked out

 

[CrazyFish]

That is worth looking into! Thanks!

 

[Jules Hardy]

Very informative, answered a a question I didn't even need to ask but was wondering about, thanks