Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

about meal worms

I started a drawer some time ago ........I don't think I am doing it right though because I only have the beetles.........I never get the worms.

Are the beetles eating the worms.........or

has this morphed into a different type of bug?

I have been doing this for long enough

I used wheat and oatmeal
I put in a piece of bread now and again
I use carrots or other small veggies for them to eat and get liquid

there has been no observable mold or bacteria........

any advice.......

I am thinking of just bringing the beetles into the coop for cold weather day fun-------

Sounds like you are doing it right, it took ours a few months to take off. Try crumpling up some plain newspaper (not the shiny ad flyer type paper) and putting two or three balls of it in on top of your oatmeal, drape a wet paper towel over top of the balled up paper and leave it somewhere relatively warm for a week and then see if any bugs or meal worms have crawled up into the newspaper. If you have live beetles then at some point you must be getting some cycle of worm to beetle. The worms are about microscopic for quite a while. You can take a tablespoon or two of your oat meal and put it in a low, wide dish and spread it out, watch closely and see if you see any tiny worms wriggling around.
The other option is to get a dozen or two fresh meal worms from the bait store and try again. I don't know what type you started with, but don't buy from the same source. If someone near you has an active worm farm going you may be able to get a cup full of 'starter' of known good breeders also.

 

[galgo98]

Sounds like you are doing it right, it took ours a few months to take off. Try crumpling up some plain newspaper (not the shiny ad flyer type paper) and putting two or three balls of it in on top of your oatmeal, drape a wet paper towel over top of the balled up paper and leave it somewhere relatively warm for a week and then see if any bugs or meal worms have crawled up into the newspaper. If you have live beetles then at some point you must be getting some cycle of worm to beetle. The worms are about microscopic for quite a while. You can take a tablespoon or two of your oat meal and put it in a low, wide dish and spread it out, watch closely and see if you see any tiny worms wriggling around.
The other option is to get a dozen or two fresh meal worms from the bait store and try again. I don't know what type you started with, but don't buy from the same source. If someone near you has an active worm farm going you may be able to get a cup full of 'starter' of known good breeders also.

X2... Mine took several months also.. I do not think they were warm enough at first. The room they were in only got to about 65*. I finally moved them to a warmer room (75*+) and they started to multiply much faster. I don't know if that was just coincidence or not... I also started adding some from Agway and the pet store to the original bin, so maybe that helped too? Unfortunately, I got pantry moths in it shortly after they started to reproduce. : (

 

[galgo98]

Most of our friends and families have quit even asking!

...... though when they come over for dinners they do often ask 'did I ever meet this one before??'

LOL!!

 

[Rnbwbrite1207]

Katt66, I think you could make your garden a hoop coop pretty easily with some PVC pipe and chicken wire. Cover one end with a tarp.
http://wholeviewfarm.blogspot.com/2013/07/building-hoop-coop-how-to-construct.html

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Puppies I am not looking forward to the Artic air we are supposed to get this week. I had some frozen eggs as it is now. My dogs enjoyed them so they didn't go to waste. My son is a huge Eagles fan. He hated that picture. Welcome to all the new people.

Awwww! So sweet!

Yep, I got third out of my age group, and my sibling got first.

congrats!

X2! Great job!

 

[CrazyRays]

Hello everyone, CrazyRays from Pittsburgh here.

I haven't posted in a long while. I just wanted to say hello and let you know I am still raising chickens for fresh eggs. I am still getting some days as high as 15 eggs out of 19 layers. Yesterday was just 10.

I've had one loss to predation, one loss to respiratory illness, gotten rid of excess roosters and even eaten a few. My flock stands at 23 total. 8 Barred rock-1 rooster, 7 RIR-1 rooster, 5 Golden Laced Wyandotte- 1 rooster, 2 auracana-1 rooster and 1 single Astrolarp hen.

I was down to just 18 chickens, but on one day I went to 23 chickens, two friends opted out of raising chickens and asked me to take them. I already had the room in my coop and run. That was when I got my green egg layer in the mix. Makes for a great mix of colors in both my flock and my eggs.

I love raising my flock and learned a lot from you guys here on BYC. I have given away all my excess eggs to friends, neighbors and family. It makes me feel good about it. Thanks all.

 

[stake]

Hello everyone, CrazyRays from Pittsburgh here.

I haven't posted in a long while. I just wanted to say hello and let you know I am still raising chickens for fresh eggs. I am still getting some days as high as 15 eggs out of 19 layers. Yesterday was just 10.

I've had one loss to predation, one loss to respiratory illness, gotten rid of excess roosters and even eaten a few. My flock stands at 23 total. 8 Barred rock-1 rooster, 7 RIR-1 rooster, 5 Golden Laced Wyandotte- 1 rooster, 2 auracana-1 rooster and 1 single Astrolarp hen.

I was down to just 18 chickens, but on one day I went to 23 chickens, two friends opted out of raising chickens and asked me to take them. I already had the room in my coop and run. That was when I got my green egg layer in the mix. Makes for a great mix of colors in both my flock and my eggs.

I love raising my flock and learned a lot from you guys here on BYC. I have given away all my excess to friends, neighbors and family. It makes me feel good about it. Thanks all.

Welcome back...long time no hear....good to see chicken math has had its effects on you.....

 

[sgtmom52]

Getting ready for the cold tomorrow!

 

[Pngzv]

hi everyone its pete from zelienople (butler county) as we all prepair for this crazy cold steamrolling at us is anybody taking percautions for their chickens? i personallly have never put heat in my coop and dont plan on it however -40 is drastic i plan on putiing a bale of straw in the coop, warm water in their feed and fresh water to drink. good luck and stay warm pennsylvania!

 

[sgtmom52]

I am considering, for the first time in the 7 years I have had chickens, keeping the girls locked in their coops all day tomorrow. I have large coops, but need to find something to keep them busy so they don't start picking on each other.