can I use rice bran for mealworms ???

[ladyearth]

Unfortunately bought a large bag of it for chickens. since it is so fine I would have to mix it with the corn flour left over for grinding whole corn.. seems like it so pasty wet....
So it is sitting in a sealed can under the shelter area.....
so can I use it instead for mealworms bedding and food?
Thanks yall

 

[pdirt]

Not sure if it's what you meant, but it shouldn't be wet. Is it? Or does it just feel wet? I've only dealt with rice bran in small packages meant for humans, but it's not been fine...particle sizes were slightly smaller than of wheat bran. Perhaps if you got feed grade, it would be finer particles? Also, I would make sure it is stabilized rice bran...it should say so on the package. Unstabilized rice bran will go rancid very quickly...I would not feed it to any two or four legged animal, though I don't know if it would harm the mealworms.

 

[ladyearth]

I bought the 50 lb bag from an Amish GRAIN mill....
I should have said it is "pasty" when I wet it.......

I was new to chickens..
Read on here, this forum, it could be used as an ingredient in chicken feed home made.
later when I asked the Amish lady at the desk, she said people give it to their horses......
so here I have that large bag sitting in a clean garbage can under roof of the sheds "wings" we built on......to the old shed that was here when we bought this place....
any one else know or has tried such ?
thank you

 

[Percheron chick]

I can't answer the meal worm question but if you bought the RB from the Amish mill, it's not stabilized. It will spoil very quickly if it hasn't already. It is also a very high P feed because normally in the stabilization process Ca is added to balance it out. I would be tempted to just throw it on the compost pile.

 

[Christian99]

Any type of gran will work great for mealworms. Another thing you want to throw in the mealworm bin is an apple slice. This is where they will hydrate at, and also lay their eggs at. You must give the mealworms to the chickens before the mealworm turns into a roach. Even though the chicken would like a roach, they like mealworms better. Are you familiar with raising mealworms?

 

[Percheron chick]

Rice bran does not appear to be a good medium for meal worm farming. It is too low in starch (about 25%) and they require more than 40%. Rice bran is a fat supplement not what we think of when we say bran.

 

[Christian99]

Rice bran does not appear to be a good medium for meal worm farming. It is too low in starch (about 25%) and they require more than 40%. Rice bran is a fat supplement not what we think of when we say bran.

It isn't the best, but it works. He/she can surely start off with that and switch to better brans (oatmeal, etc) when it runs out. The mealworms won't be the most nutritious, but they will still be filled with it for the chickens. Its better to start now and begin the learning process and get some going then putting it to waste. Have you ever drunk a soda that wan't your favorite but it did until you were able to get your favorite soda? Besides, mealworms don't care as much as you think they do, eating is their life.

 

[ladyearth]

I checked the bag and it says "stablized" The Amish mill carries other products other than what they mill. Only grain so far I got from them that was theirs was the scratch, and Non GMO corn.... they put their products in their own bgs with their name on it...
Oh also started 3 other batches of millworms.. The others are "oat flour" and the top one drawer is "oatbran"

So far gave them "carrot" little banana peels, pumpkin.... rather avoid fruits as I hate fruit flies. Had so many last year like I mentioned a while back.. They really were bad cause I used no pesticides on my garden stuff.....
Now just need to go thru the 3 drawers and look for dead mealworms....
Yeah, I want some beetles because they supposedly lay the EGGS to I hopefully dont need to buy any more mealworms
I bought thru Ebay 1000 medium mealworms to put in the Sterlite drawers # 2 and #3....
Thanks yall

 

[shorttimer]

I've has reasonably good luck with raising Mealworms. It's pretty straight forward, and I know I'm using rolled oats for their bedding/food, which is probably second best to wheat bran, from all the research I've done. You want to keep the medium dry, between 75 & 79 degrees for optimum turnover. I cut up carrots & sprinkle them on the bedding so they can get their moisture and maybe a little nutrient from it. I tried celery & used in very small amounts because it added too much moisture. And lately, after reading a thread on here (I think), that someone had some really good luck at speeding their production by taking the skins from an eaten Kiwi fruit & laying on top of the bedding. skin side down. I tried it & they really like it. I'm sure lot of experimentation would be in order. Temps are important & when you get in the 'sweet spot' you'll see the activity speed up. There's lots of info on the net with all sorts of videos. It's helpful to have at least 3 different plastic trays for the different stages of growth, which I look over on a daily basis. The beetle tray has been cut out on the bottom & screen put in so the tiny worms & eggs fall through so the beetles don't cannibalize them. I figure if I can do it anybody can. It's really simple & other than the oats & a few carrots, I've only spent about $25 for trays in the year I've been doing it. I like the 28 Qt Sterilite ones from Walmart & the tops are handy. Good luck.

 

[LizStreithorst]

I just got 2000 meal worms in. The supermarket didn't have wheat bran so I used oat bran. Will they eat the oat bran or must I order wheat bran on line?