Raising and breeding live mealworms

[Jbank19]

Does anybody breed and raise live meal worms for your hens? If so, maybe a brief explanation of the process and if it's worth it ?

 

[333113]

I know there are lots of YouTube videos on this subject, and also on soldier flies, which I and the ducks prefer.

I myself don't go out of my way to raise them out of season, or separately from my birds. I started them in my big duck cage and my barn some years back. They both go dormant when it's cold here (US gardening zone 5), then resume when it warms up in the spring. They have pretty much spread themselves to all the cages and pens that have deep litter.

When I put fresh water in each duck and chicken pen now, there are a bunch of wrigglers under the empty water pan. I set the fresh water pan down on the other side of the cage, and let the birds clean up under the old water pan. There are always enough mealworms out of reach of the birds to continue the next generation!

I have to say, though, that live mealworms and soldier fly worms (which are slightly bigger and darker) in the cages are not for everyone. I am not squeamish about them, nor about the adults (little black beetles for mealworms, black flies three times as long as a housefly). None of them bite, though the black soldier flies sometimes buzz around in great excitement, almost as excited as the birds, when I bring water or food to the pens.

The best part about the soldier flies is that as their population goes up in the summer, the regular houseflies disappear. I am not a good enough biologist to have figured out why, yet.

 

[RumneyRoost]

I just ordered 1000 mealworms on Sunday, I believe they were supposed to ship Tuesday and should arrive today or tomorrow.

I'm going to try just using one clear bin. If it gets too difficult I'll switch to two bins in a tower formation. So the adult beetles are on top, and the eggs drop through the screen to the bottom bin.

Where are you located?

I'm in Ontario where the winters are cold and the summers are humid. I plan to keep mine in the garage for the rest of the summer, but I'll have to bring them in the house once it starts to cool down. Earlier if they start to attract mice.

 

[ChickenTippinFarm]

I have grown mealworms many years ago, back when I owned a pet shoppe. I had a pretty good sized colony in just a small tupperware container with holes drilled in it. The container was a little smaller than a sheet of paper and about 4 inches tall. It was not clear (see-through), but did let light in. The container had a lid, but I never snapped it shut, just laid it on the top gently. I had a couple different types of "Meal" (oatmeal, corn meal, etc), and had a papertowel on the top of the meal, which every so often, I would mist with water to keep the humidity up. The beetles crawled around on top of the meal, and sometimes on the paper towel, and the worms were down at the bottom. It was pretty simple, and needed very little maintenance. Indoor temperatures were fine, even during the summer in Kansas in the back store room. As long as the inside of the container wasn't wet-wet, there was very little smell, and no beetles escaped.

 

[333113]

...As long as the inside of the container wasn't wet-wet, there was very little smell, and no beetles escaped.

I agree, I have noticed no difference in odor due to the presence of mealworms or soldier fly larva.

 

[hmarg06]

When my brother had a Leopard Gecko as kids we raised mealworms for her. I have no idea if we did it correctly, but it was really easy. We took a gallon ice cream pail with a lid. Filled it 3/4 with ground corn that was for the cows, threw some mealworms in, keep a damp paper towel in there, and let them do their thing. They never smelled, and we just added more corn/changed it out as needed.. We'd sift out all the live ones, refill with corn, and pop the live ones back in.

 

[RumneyRoost]

My worms arrived yesterday! I’m very excited. They ended up being in the mail for a week, but it looks like only a couple died. And there happened to be one beetle in the box.
It looked like they ate most of the substrate that they were shipped in. The supplier shipped extra substrate in a separate container. Once they’ve gotten through some of that I’ll add oatmeal, cornmeal, etc. I gave them a piece of carrot. It’s pretty humid here but I think they’ll finish it before it gets moldy.