Mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle. They go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. My chickens love them. I also feed them to my quail and pigeons as well as put them in my wild bird feeders. Need worms for fishing? I can help you out.
Mealworms are so easy to raise. They require very little attention. Start out with a plastic container, some wheat bran, and a few mealworms. I started my worms out in a small plastic donut container. I now have them in a plastic 3 drawer cart. The mealworms do not escape the plastic container and does not even require a cover. A bag of bran will last a long time. I add slices of old bread to the worm bed as well as potatoes sliced in half. It takes no time at all for a fresh slice of bread to be covered by mealworms when placed in the worm bed. Mealworms do not smell. Your guest won't even know they are in the house. My mealworms are in a corner of my dining room. They are so easy to raise, you can almost "plant them and forget about them". Why buy mealworms when you can raise your own?
Where did you buy your start? Can I raise them outdoors? I get a little creepy feeling about having them in the house.
ReplyDeleteMy dad gave me my start of them. They can be raised outdoors this time of year. Not so sure about the winter months. You can purchase a couple containers at the bait shop for starters. Most people don't even realize I have worms in the dining room...lol
DeleteI got a small start last summer during the hot months and forgot them and almost let them all die once it got cold. Below 70 is detrimental to the life of a mealworm. I brought them back inside and they are doing well again. They truly do not come out of the bowl or whatever you have them in. I keep mine in my pantry. My husband said if he saw 1 bug they would be gone. 3 months in and no bug.
DeleteI live in southwest NE. I have an unrelated heated barn where I start my baby chicks in old horse tanks. We've turned 2 leaking horse tanks into brooders with plywood & hailscreen lids with heatlampmounted in top. I use pine shavings for bedding. I usually add clean layers of pine to tank when needed. I almost always have mealworms occur naturally in bottoms of tanks. I've never even bought a start of them! I'm guessing maybe there are eggs that get in the chick feed, I really don't know. Even when I have no heat lamp going the worms don't seem to die over the winter here & it definitely freezes in my bsrn. They wind up in the compost pile when tanks are emptied & free range chickens dug for them there as well. I just let nature handle mine & they thrive. ��
DeleteDoes it matter what type of soil you use? How much do you feed to the chickens? This is all new to me. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't use soil. I bed them in bran meal. It is available at feed stores.
DeleteMy bran keeps sifting through the screen. I have Bob's Red Hill bran from Amazon. Is there such a thing as larger grain bran? The feed store doesn't carry it. I also used the finest screen I could find.
Deleteeven your mealworms are what they eat. better mealworm food means better eggs.
DeleteLoL At Handy Andy! I feel the same way!!
ReplyDeleteI just bought some off Ebay and thought Heck I can grow these myself !
They are so easy to raise!
Deletehow do you let them reproduce, do you let some grow into the beetles? How many do you leave in the drawer, or feed to the chickens at a time?
ReplyDeleteI let alot of them grow into beetles. I didn't feed alot to the chickens at first, as they have to turn into beetles to reproduce.
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ReplyDeleteHow long does it take to get from meal worms to beetles, to reproduce, to eggs and new meal worms to feed to my chickens
ReplyDeleteIt takes 3-6 months for the worms to run their complete cycle. So within 3 months there should be some worms to feed.
DeleteIn a chicken coop Iv read its best to have a deep earth floor so chickin poop will compost its self with the bedding. Could you in theroy just allow the mealsworms to grow there?
ReplyDeleteMealworms live in a dry environment of meal not a compost. I don't think they could live in a compost matter.
DeleteNO! They will not do well in a high moisture (mildew/fungus will kill them) or nitrogen environment. They are normally found in grain silos or grain bins; anywhere grains are stored.
DeleteI usually purchase mealworms from Petco, are these good for starting the raising process? Is there any need to separate beetles from the worms?
ReplyDeleteYes, those are fine. You leave the beetles and the worms together as the beetles will be laying eggs for new worms.
DeleteHowever after the beetles have went through their life cycle and appear lifeless you can remove them.
hi patty you haven't by chance know how many worm spawns from one beetle?
DeleteDo the beetles escape if your container is not covered? I have worms in my kitchen already, adding meal worms might be fun.
ReplyDeleteDo the beetles ever escape?
ReplyDeleteI have never had beetles escape. They never have a cover on them.
Deletehello, I will try to grow them since no one sells the worms around here, do you think I could use flour or quaker to bed them in?
ReplyDeleteI really don't know. I have never used anything but bran meal. I do put bread it my beds sometimes and collect the worms on the bread.
DeleteI raised them in my classroom years ago for my turtle, and I used oatmeal for the medium. it works fine.
DeleteFlour isn't good by itself. Mix the flour and oats so you have a course mixture. You can get bread at a day-old bread store cheap, bread will give them the moisture they need instead of using pieces of vegetables. All stages can be kept in the same container. When you clean your container and sift our the beetles, larvae, and pupae, DO NOT throw the bedding away, use it to start another batch as it will likely be full of eggs.
Deletewhat is the potato for? moisture?
ReplyDeleteUse some crumbled bread for their moisture.
Deletewill oats work for food, and do they need a drink?
ReplyDeleteyes, oats work for food. I've never watered mine... but I use cut apples as well as potatoes. they get moisture from that
DeleteI use carrots for moisture for mine. I also use oatmeal for the bedding.
DeleteI use the oats for bedding and carrots for moisture
DeleteWheat is best, but many other grains will work. Bread actually makes a better source of moisture, it's not as wet as vegetable or fruit slices and won't usually mildew.
DeleteI tried meal worms once and they smelled so bad I had to get rid of them. What might I have done wrong?
ReplyDeletemy guess is that it wasn't the worms but whatever you were feeding was rotten. You have to remove fresh foods (like apples and potatoes) after so long. oatmeal and bran you don't have to remove. you have to be careful of letting food mold and mildew. it kills your worms too.
DeleteI tried raising meal worms once, and they smelled so bad I had to get rid of them. What might I have done wrong?
ReplyDeleteUsually foul odor is caused by moldy bedding/food caused by excessive moisture. Your bins need adequate ventilation and you need to monitor the substrate for mold/fermenting. I solved the problem by NOT using anything for moisture for the mealworms, instead I put a few pieces of bread in every few days. Go to a day old bead store and they often will give you loaves that have started to mold or that are too old to sell. Simply remove the moldy pieces and feed this to you mealworms instead of bran.
DeleteMy bran keeps sifting through the screen. Is ther a larger grain bran you recommend?
ReplyDeleteI use oat meal.
DeleteI have good results with oat meal as the bedding and carrots for their water sourse.
DeleteHi Patty, Another Patty here. I've reread the article and I can't find the part about the screen. Where do you put the screen and why? Help. I'd like to start this tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHi Patty, I reread the article, but I can't find where it says to use a screen or where. Just a mention of the screen in the comments. What is the screen for, and where do I place it? Thanks so much.. I found this so interesting, and I'm anxious to try it.
ReplyDeleteYou can buy mealworms at almost any pet store that sells pet food anywhere from $3.50 to $6.00 a plastic container. Easier things in the world to grow.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the basic setup? I see some saying they have screen in their beds. Is the screen there for a reason, or have they just put it in for some kind of filtering system?
ReplyDeleteWilma0929