My mealworm community! (Pics)

viktoriacl

Songster
12 Years
Jun 23, 2010
456
26
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So I saw the post about raising mealworms by mistake and thought I'd give it a try. I bought a 100ct of mealworms from Petco (in the fridge) I brought them home and gave a few to the chickens. Then I put them back in the fridge because I didnt think there were enough to save. I forgot about them and took them back out about a week later and then I decided to try to get them to multiply. I threw in a piece of apple and then a week ago a carrot. I just threw the container in the bathroom closet and left it. Today I looked and this is what I saw! There are some HUGE worms and some dead ones. There are also several in the pupae stage. If you look closely they are the ones that are light in color and have the jagged edges. How easy is that! I cant wait to see them muliply! Does anyone know how long that food (?weat germ) lasts? So cool!
 
I am going to try this next year, after we get the chicks, and have them ready. I use to have them when I was a kid and had lizards and thought when they multiplied it was the grossest thing . . . and here I am 50 years later WANTING them to multiply. You just never know!!!
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You are going to want to give them more space and feed. Go to the dollar store and get some shoe box sized plastic bins and some bran from the bulk food isle. Leave some beetles behind and put about 5-10 beetles into another bin. As the bran gets smaller and less, add some more. If you have the storage, buy a large bag of bran from a feed store. I suspect my bag will last years at this rate. Its not that difficult. Bran for food and veggies/fruit for moisture and food. Let them do their thing and harvest them periodically.
Of yah, while my chickens prefer the worms and puppa they do eat the beetles too.
 
That's awesome! I didn't think you could grow/multiply your own mealworms from the ones at Petco/Petsmart. I would have sworn I read somewhere that the mealworms sold at those stores were chemically treated so that they would not go into the pupal stage and never become beetles. This was so they would have a longer shelf life as mealworms. If your worms do in fact turn into beetles I'm rushing out to buy some and try it too. I just paid over $7 for the standard size 500ct mealworms at Petco, and if my 3 pullets had their way, they'd consume the whole plastic cup in one sitting! I've never seen such a frenzy over a food--they literally go crazy! I'm sure my 3 kids would love to see the whole mealworm beetle transformation too. Please keep us updated on how things turn out! It would be great to have the extra protein source for the winter when the wild bugs are scarce.
 
I got mine from petsmart. I use apples and potatoes for food. My girls are in love. I started with a 25 lb. bag of bran. and a few worms. When I get to many i give them to the girls.
 

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