New Adventures! Mealworm Farming!
Oh happy day! My daughter randomly brought home a tub of 100 mealworms from her science teacher. I've been tossing around the idea of having a small mealworm farm and this seemed come at the perfect time. Seriously. It couldn't have been more perfect.
The mealworms came in a small plastic tub with little holes and a screen at the top. Inside was what I assume was substrate (though it looked more like sawdust) and a paper towel. I grabbed a carrot, popped it into pieces and put them in the tub. Almost immediately the tub came to life! Those little suckers almost devoured that carrot. When I got it back out this evening it was soft and pliable and half of it was gone!
I grabbed an old aquarium the kids keep for river trips. It had been left outside and the effects of winter have cracked the bottom. Since the only other option was to toss it in the trash, it is perfect for this. Recycle! Reuse! Yay!
All I had on hand were some old-fashioned quaker oats. So that's what they got. Oats and a carrot for right now. I'll get some wheat bran later and add that when I need to.
It isn't very big. I've seen much more elaborate set-ups. But for just starting out, it's great. I cut a piece of cardboard to fit loosely on the top with an object on top of it to keep the dogs from just going in there and going to town. Actually, last night Blossom apparently got the tub of mealworms from off the table and took them to her bed. She didn't chew on it at all. Just got them and put them in her bed. Sometimes I honestly don't understand that dog.
I feel like a kid who just got an ant-farm! They're so cool to watch! I can't wait for them to start breeding so I can start feeding them to our chickens. I'm sure they're gonna love them! And who can beat free mealworms?? I mean, we pay $25 a bag for them. It's insane. Also, BONUS! My aquarium turtle loves mealworms as well! So he'll get some fresh protein as well. I'm a pretty happy camper.
Thanks for checking out our new little mealworm farm! Do you have any experience with raising your own mealworms? I could use any tips or tricks you have to offer. Thanks so much! :)
How awesome to get a tub of them for free! And that you could reuse the cracked aquarium...so it's even more "free"! Do you really have to do much besides pitch food in there once in awhile? If they're that maintenance free, maybe I'll have to check it out for my own chickens eventually :)
I giggled at "sometimes I honestly don't understand that dog." Hehehe at the dog cuddling the mealworms in her bed!
They are pretty maintenance free. I hear of people "forgetting" them for a week and they're still doing great. Just keep them fed and provide some kind of moisture (not a dish of water, they'll drown). The carrots and apples I'm going to feed them will provide plenty of their own moisture. They'll eat pretty much anything. I've even heard they'll eat Styrofoam....which I'm not willing to feed to anything. I want these as clean and healthy as they can be so my chickens get the best nutrients they can from them.
I'm going to have to poke around and see if I can find some locally. If they're that easy, then the kids would just love to raise treats for the chickens. They already go out in the garden and hunt for grubs for them :)
Oh man. Yeah. If they are totally cool with handling grubs, these are nothing compared t that. Grubs give me the heebie-jeebies. Haha! Those are some brave kiddos. They'll love raising mealworms!
Nice article. I also do mealworms just at a little larger scale. I rotate around 100k in mealworms a week and the beetles laying eggs. If you sift and rotate your beetles into new containers weekly it will save you lots of time hand separating your containers. If you have any questions let me know I run a group on Facebook for mealworms. If you have space you can turn it into a small income.
I want to join the mealworm group!!! Yes! Please!
link for group is at the bottom of page of the article I wrote https://steemit.com/mealworms/@liberyworms/farming-mealworms-how-to
That is so cool. My husband is grossed out by mealworms, but if we get chicken some day I really want to farm them. One thing I've always wondered about is how do you know which ones to feed them? Is it the ones that lay still because they are heading into the next phase? Or how can you tell?
I'm going to wait until we have a good couple of generations of them before I start feeding. But what I plan to do is drop in a piece of food, wait about 5 minutes, pick the food off (the mealworms will be attached) and then gently brush them off into a container. I'm going to need a lot of them, as we feed our 11 chickens about half a cup of dried mealworms a day as it is.
So awesome, I have been thinking of doing the same lol. Or crickets! It's funny that the dog took the container of them. I wish you best of luck! Have you tried eating them yourself?
I haven't, but I heard they taste like almonds. I might get brave enough one day...but today is not that day! Haha!
This is exciting and I can feel your excitement. I have been that way for a month watching my Amaryllis bloom. I hope these work out really well for you and happy to see you enjoying this.
Thank you, @qberryfarms!
I have my countertop compost bin with earth worms, ( who are doing great!) But I never thought about meal worms! I sometimes buy them for the wild birds at the feeder as a treat, but you are right, they are too expensive! Raising them. hmm.
I wondered how your worms were doing! That's awesome! These are so super easy and they basically eat our scraps as well, just not as quickly or as much. I can't wait to start feeding them to our chickens.
Cool project and nice re-use of the aquarium!
Still chuckling over Blossom's antics...
She's silly. She gets rolls of toilet paper from the bathroom, brings them to her bed, and proceeds to take little mouse nibbles, shredding it until there isn't an intact piece left. She doesn't eat any. Just takes little nibbles and spits them out. Haha!
Thank you, @aunt-deb. :)
@hethur240 this is going to be interesting to follow along with your journey on raising mealworms!
I'm glad to have you come along! Thanks, @underthekiltfarm!
a very useful post for me and the readers of stemia
Mealworms are a great idea. They not only work as a treat for thechickens, they also do a pretty good job at breaking down the compost. 🐓🐓
I've been talking about farming them this summer pretty much all winter and to have them just fall into my lap like this was a sure sign that it needed to happen. Do you farm them as well? I'd love to hear about your set-up if so.