Question about feeding mealworms -

[Sjisty]

What if I pour contents of bin (worms and wheat bran) into feeders for chickens to harvest their own worms? I moved the beetles to another bin several weeks ago, so there shouldn't be any more eggs hatching in the bran/worm mixture. The chickens will have to scratch and find the worms. The wheat bran won't hurt them, will it? I will, of course, remove all remains of carrots and potatoes from the worm farm.

That way I use fresh bran, place beetles in bin and start over again. I will have growing worms in one bin, another bin ready to use in a week or so, and the new bin with beetles and some worms placed in to replace old/dying beetles.

How does that sound, all you mealworm farmers out there?

 

[Plain Old Dee]

It would depend on how much "stuff" you have in the bin. The wheat germ shouldn't hurt them, but they might not eat as much of their higher protein regular feed as they should. As for the carrot and potato leavings, I feed those scraps to my hens, and they eat them... or not - whichever they choose. What they don't eat gets mixed in with the hay on the floor. Come spring, it will all go on the garden.