Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Chaneys Ranch]

Aww, I am sorry to hear it. She was very pretty, but something inside her must not have been right..

I'll add my meal worm experience and how I got started with this post. I bought two of those little small tubs of meal worms that they sell at Wal Mart around here. Wal Mart keeps them is a small refrigerator in the sporting goods section and they are sold as fish bait. Keeping them cold stops them from turning into beetles so cold is never a problem just can't let them freeze. After the fishing trip I probably had less than a hundred mealies left over. I read enough of the meal worm thread that jchny 2000 posted above to realize I had everything I needed to get started. I used a large box of quick oats and the 10 gallon fish tank that had been sitting empty in the garage. I did add about a cup full of chicken layer crumble. I didn't bake anything because this whole thing was kept in the garage at the time. It stays hot in the garage and thats what they like to multiply. The box of oats and the cup of layer crumble made it about 2" deep in the 10 gallon fish tank and thats still all I have in there to date. A couple of baby carrots, apple, potatoe, ect for moisture about once a week and thats it. I keep it in the house in a closet for now but it will return to the garage when the weather gets warmer. The garage gets much hotter than the house in the summer and is dry so its the perfect enviroment. My less than a hundred has multiplied at least to a thousand and I still have live beetles laying eggs (You know how we love egg layers). Mine will be a slower process to reach large numbers but I like the idea that I only have invested the cost of a box of quick oats and a cup of layer crumble. The mealies were going to get tossed to the chickens anyway and I did get to use them for bait. As it stands now I will not have to buy bait anymore and the bulk of the worms will provide a endless supply of chicken treats (unless I let Roger help me count them). I actually forget about them being in the closet but get reminded when I make salads that I need to give them a couple pieces of carrot or celery or something moist. A five dollar investment and no more than a minute worth of my time a week required to take care of them made it a easy decision. Free fishing bait an NO Roger they are not ready yet to be counted.

Thanks!

ALSO! The dried ones are just so expensive, i can't justify it for myself. I do ok on the worm part, the pupa, eggs. The beetles creep me out some. They are sneaky lil nasties and will get on your shirt sleeves if you don't roll them up. The frass "poop" they leave builds up and does create dust, so i use a mask, it makes me cough.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

To Keep From Drowning They Crawled From The Ground
All Over The Driveway, Were Earthworms I Found
I Gathered Them Up, I Knew What To Do
I Need Scratch, Bread, And Pumpkin Too
Arranged On A Plate I Would Soon Throw Away
A Ultimate Pie..... This Would Make Their Day
I Knew It Would Go Quick, In The Blink Of A Eye
Eight Grateful Girls Devoured A Tasty Worm Pie


EIGHT

EIGHT.......Today We Laid EIGHT...........A PERFECT DAY........Think Pie Don't Work?

YAY for 8!!! Oh i had some wild crazy birds this morning, they went berzerk grabbing up all the huge crawler. It was like football training day, them all running around

Raining hard again tonight, bet there's a ton more waiting tomorrow!
The largest predator we see here is coyotes, and they don't seem to come around a lot. Oh, and stray dogs

THAT is a very sore subject for me. I have had words on the forum with people over that... Shutting up on that one, lol

Occasionally one or the other of my chickens will cough when it bolts dry food. Kind of a highnpitched eek eek, some head shaking, then is OK. Only happened with dry food though. I'd think it unlikely only one chicken would be affected by disease, and then there would be other symptoms. I don't hang around the disease threads on this forum because all those illnesses freak me out. Besides, there has to be a mode of transmission and I'm not exposed to any...wild birds? Well, by te time they fly to me they'd be dead already. Some say all chickens have disease, but I disagree.

I had a lot of sneezing from the dry crumbles. It all stopped once i went to FF and i think it was the whole "feeding frenzy" they go into.


Got 7 eggs today!

YAY on 7 W4W!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey guys

you are the 2nd person to know....cause y'all are so special to me

Round one muahahahaha!

http://www.mthealthy.com/

Name Item No. Qty Price Total
Special Service (Vaccinate)
Vaccination service request: all
Vaccine 15 $0.10 $1.50
Black Australorp Chickens (pullets)
Customer requested hatch/ship date: Dec 12 2012
BA-P 15 $3.00 $45.00
Subtotal $46.50
chickS&H z1&2 $8.00
special service adjustment. $3.50 (this is the sexing fee)
Total $58.00
I DID IT! First round of chicks. I am so excited! And Totally Insane starting chicks mid December

. These babies are really more planned for new layers. DH said, oh, is that all you are getting, he thinks i should start selling a few breeds. There's no one local here that does. You have to go a county over to even go to the auctions and that's a horrible way to get birds. We attended 1, and i will never go to another. Just sad, poor frightened animals, filthy conditions ugh. I found a hatchery just over in Ohio. They have been in business over 80 years. DH's cousin has been into chickens all his life, (Bantu breeds) and he told me they are very well known and reputable. My Ops will be next, I plan to get lavender and buffs. They will be coming from a breeder in Salem, IN. They don't ship so we are making the drive down there.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

OK and jchny, some meal worm farming questions: What do you do with the adult beetles? Do they live long? Can they fly? How often do you replace the bedding/clean out the box? Am I being annoying? I know I should read the worm thread, but I'm being, um, well, lazy!

I tell my husband, in all seriousness, that the occasional spider up in the corner is a good thing because it will eat the other bugs in the house. I didn't know a man could roll his eyes that far up in his head!!!

(He doesn't dislike spiders, outside at least, but he can't stand the webs! Especially when they get on his face, you know, when the webs get strung across a walkway, poor guy!) So now I am considering intentionally raising bugs in the house? Hmmmm... happy hubby.... or happy chickens....

Requires some careful consideration.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hey guys

you are the 2nd person to know....cause y'all are so special to me

Round one muahahahaha!

http://www.mthealthy.com/

Name Item No. Qty Price Total
Special Service (Vaccinate)
Vaccination service request: all
Vaccine 15 $0.10 $1.50
Black Australorp Chickens (pullets)
Customer requested hatch/ship date: Dec 12 2012
BA-P 15 $3.00 $45.00
Subtotal $46.50
chickS&H z1&2 $8.00
special service adjustment. $3.50 (this is the sexing fee)
Total $58.00
I DID IT! First round of chicks. I am so excited! And Totally Insane starting chicks mid December

. These babies are really more planned for new layers. DH said, oh, is that all you are getting, he thinks i should start selling a few breeds. There's no one local here that does. You have to go a county over to even go to the auctions and that's a horrible way to get birds. We attended 1, and i will never go to another. Just sad, poor frightened animals, filthy conditions ugh. I found a hatchery just over in Ohio. They have been in business over 80 years. DH's cousin has been into chickens all his life, (Bantu breeds) and he told me they are very well known and reputable. My Ops will be next, I plan to get lavender and buffs. They will be coming from a breeder in Salem, IN. They don't ship so we are making the drive down there.

Wahooo!

You will love the BAs. Their feathers are so pretty in the sun. Big dark eyes. Nice and round and plump. Looks like they're wearing bloomers! Will be waiting for pics!

I have heard of more people infecting their flocks with disease and parasites from auction birds. Best to get chicks if you don't know the living conditions of older birds.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

OK and jchny, some meal worm farming questions: What do you do with the adult beetles? Do they live long? Can they fly? How often do you replace the bedding/clean out the box? Am I being annoying? I know I should read the worm thread, but I'm being, um, well, lazy!

I tell my husband, in all seriousness, that the occasional spider up in the corner is a good thing because it will eat the other bugs in the house. I didn't know a man could roll his eyes that far up in his head!!!

(He doesn't dislike spiders, outside at least, but he can't stand the webs! Especially when they get on his face, you know, when the webs get strung across a walkway, poor guy!) So now I am considering intentionally raising bugs in the house? Hmmmm... happy hubby.... or happy chickens....

Requires some careful consideration.

I have a 3 drawer plastic storage thing i got for my birthday...

tha'ts my main breeder box. I took out 1 drawer, cut out all but 1 inch of the bottom all the way around. I hot glued metal window screen in the bottom, and added the oats to this bin. This drawer goes in the middle, Thats where all beetles go into. They live a long time, i still have 1st generation beetles after 5 months! The other 2 drawers, 1 gets wheat bran, and i rotate it every 2 months. the 2nd month i dump the contents into a shoebox, (plastic) and date it. Drawer 2 is on the bottom. Last drawer 3 is a backup in case my main colony dies, i just feed it. Beetles Cannot fly.. period. I add bedding if it gets lower than 2 inches.Don't clean it out, just take out any veges that look moldy or not right.

you are so NOT annoying! Hehe and lazy is not the right word. Fast, easy, productive and thrifty, get the fast version is my thing too. Haha, spiders! they are one of 3 things i hate, but i don't kill them unless they are in the bedroom. I had a 14ft python and she bothered me less than spiders, bees and roaches. eww

hate them all creep me out. Anyways, i have 2 large single bins now too, i just emptied month 2 and 4 into. huge wormies, they drag a baby carrot into the bedding in minutes reminds me of the Tremors movies

.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Alright, guilty confession time. I have been watching this dopey tv series called Finding Bigfoot. I get a big kick out of it. There are these 3 guys, total believers, and one gal who is the token skeptic, that travel around the country and interview folks and go out into the woods looking for sasquatch evidence. I love that the guys seem to know specific details of bigfoot behavior, diet, and social interaction, despite never having actually seen one.

So I thought, who better to ask than those of you who live in the wilds, who hunt, and chase bears, and spend a lot of time driving on rural roads. Have any of you ever seen anything that would make you think they might possibly exist? Anything unexplainable? Seems chickens would be a big draw for a sasquatch, so they'd be around your coops.

It would be great if a huge heretofore unknown mammal species was to be discovered in North America! Would give millions around the world hope for Loch Ness Monsters and UFOs and the like. My dad, a former pilot, killed my UFO hopes. Said with a note of derision: "I spent thousands of hours staring out jet windows at empty sky. If aliens were here I would have seen 'em!"

So how 'bout it? Any good stories of large hairy critters bipedaling around in the woods? (Nub Tooth does not count!) Love a good story, and I have an open mind!

Oooo, show's back on. They're running around in the dark now.... Gotta go!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I have a 3 drawer plastic storage thing i got for my birthday...

tha'ts my main breeder box. I took out 1 drawer, cut out all but 1 inch of the bottom all the way around. I hot glued metal window screen in the bottom, and added the oats to this bin. This drawer goes in the middle, Thats where all beetles go into. They live a long time, i still have 1st generation beetles after 5 months! The other 2 drawers, 1 gets wheat bran, and i rotate it every 2 months. the 2nd month i dump the contents into a shoebox, (plastic) and date it. Drawer 2 is on the bottom. Last drawer 3 is a backup in case my main colony dies, i just feed it. Beetles Cannot fly.. period. I add bedding if it gets lower than 2 inches.Don't clean it out, just take out any veges that look moldy or not right.

you are so NOT annoying! Hehe and lazy is not the right word. Fast, easy, productive and thrifty, get the fast version is my thing too. Haha, spiders! they are one of 3 things i hate, but i don't kill them unless they are in the bedroom. I had a 14ft python and she bothered me less than spiders, bees and roaches. eww

hate them all creep me out. Anyways, i have 2 large single bins now too, i just emptied month 2 and 4 into. huge wormies, they drag a baby carrot into the bedding in minutes reminds me of the Tremors movies

.

This looks like a doable set up. I could probably keep it in the garage to lessen the blech factor. I'm not afraid of most creepy crawlies, as long as they stay away from my pants legs. *shudder* It's the 2-legged hairless critters that scare me most, which is why I never watch horror movies. Too realistic. Glad these beetles can't fly, but you know many actually can. Ladybugs and Junebugs and other types have wings hidden under the hard outer wing covers. Really cool how they work. (Sorry, I was a science teacher in my early days.)

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Alright, guilty confession time. I have been watching this dopey tv series called Finding Bigfoot. I get a big kick out of it. There are these 3 guys, total believers, and one gal who is the token skeptic, that travel around the country and interview folks and go out into the woods looking for sasquatch evidence. I love that the guys seem to know specific details of bigfoot behavior, diet, and social interaction, despite never having actually seen one.

So I thought, who better to ask than those of you who live in the wilds, who hunt, and chase bears, and spend a lot of time driving on rural roads. Have any of you ever seen anything that would make you think they might possibly exist? Anything unexplainable? Seems chickens would be a big draw for a sasquatch, so they'd be around your coops.

It would be great if a huge heretofore unknown mammal species was to be discovered in North America! Would give millions around the world hope for Loch Ness Monsters and UFOs and the like. My dad, a former pilot, killed my UFO hopes. Said with a note of derision: "I spent thousands of hours staring out jet windows at empty sky. If aliens were here I would have seen 'em!"

So how 'bout it? Any good stories of large hairy critters bipedaling around in the woods? (Nub Tooth does not count!) Love a good story, and I have an open mind!

Oooo, show's back on. They're running around in the dark now.... Gotta go!

Oh i gotta watch that. Love the bigfoot story but i really believe they are mountain people, shut ins that had enough and wanted to live without our techno age.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Oh i gotta watch that. Love the bigfoot story but i really believe they are mountain people, shut ins that had enough and wanted to live without our techno age.

That's a good possibility, but everyone says they're around 8 ft tall. Maybe fear makes them seem bigger.
It's on Animal Planet. Sundays.