Mealworm farming

[Emily1220]

IF the mites do show their ugly little heads what do I do about them??? My bins are in the house where it is warm. This rather scares me!!!

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Too many pages to sift through! Have a question though. Can I raise the king size mealies?

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
I think the main consensus is the mite problem is a humidity thing, the mites like higher humidity, so keep the mealies at the low end of the humidity for them and you will be less likely to get the mites. Once infested some have had success in keeping the bigger worms, and beetles tossing the rest of the bin, starting w/ fresh substrate, massive cleaning of affected area (carpet, floor, tables etc..) and washing the beetles / mealies they are keeping to start that colony over again.

Gallo said he did something w/ light and dark attracting the mites out of a colony, but it was so long ago he was fuzzy on the details.

I haven't had the issue yet (Knock on wood) so I'm just repeating what I remember from what I've read, but there are several on this thread w/ first hand experience.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Usually the true king sized mealies are treated w/ something to arrest their developement to pupa, rendering them sterile.

There are other worms / insects like super worms you can raise, but they are not mealworms and have different methods and needs.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
Usually the true king sized mealies are treated w/ something to arrest their developement to pupa, rendering them sterile.

There are other worms / insects like super worms you can raise, but they are not mealworms and have different methods and needs.

There's no way I could do super worms. They are terrifying... And after a breeders' hedgies died due to being bitten internally by them, I'm scared to feed them even if I cut the heads off. Scratch that, I'm afraid to even touch them!

 

[andrea98]

Quote:
Usually the true king sized mealies are treated w/ something to arrest their developement to pupa, rendering them sterile.

There are other worms / insects like super worms you can raise, but they are not mealworms and have different methods and needs.

There's no way I could do super worms. They are terrifying... And after a breeders' hedgies died due to being bitten internally by them, I'm scared to feed them even if I cut the heads off. Scratch that, I'm afraid to even touch them!

Sigh ... That seems to be a topic in geckos also.. About eating thru their guts.. Pet store say don't feed em mealies & long time breeders say they are fine & that they feed them to their leos ..

 

[Jayare's Chicks]

I came across this thread again the other day and now I have the bug to start my own colony of them. I gotta find some Wheat Bran now so I can get this started. I thought I could get it at the grocery store but I didn't find any there so I came back to this thread and saw I needed to get it at a feed store. I will check with the 2 feed stores I deal with to see if they have it or can get it for me. Is there any other place anyone has found (Wheat Bran) at?

Jayare

 

[onafixedincome]

Quote:
Sure...if you are willing to split your young mealies into two groups, one which is treated with insect growth regulator (IGR) so that they get BIG BIG BIG and one that is not treated, so they will actually become fertile beetles to give you the next generation.

In my experience, my chickens purely DO NOT CARE if they eat a million average mealies or a half a million monster mealies--it's all GOOD STUFF!

~~~

~~~

For those worried about the chickens' guts and mealies of whatever size...if you freeze them first, or dunk them fast in boiling water, they will be dead, unable to chew...and the chickens gobble 'em right on down. I am told that if you dunk them, though, they POO, A LOT!! and the smell can be, er, spectacular. (A friend used to supervise the biology and chem labs at a junior college...she knows!)

 

[rirbrahma]

I just started mealworm farming!

It's pretty easy getting things setup after reading from here.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Jayare's Chicks :

I came across this thread again the other day and now I have the bug to start my own colony of them. I gotta find some Wheat Bran now so I can get this started. I thought I could get it at the grocery store but I didn't find any there so I came back to this thread and saw I needed to get it at a feed store. I will check with the 2 feed stores I deal with to see if they have it or can get it for me. Is there any other place anyone has found (Wheat Bran) at?

Jayare

My wheat bran is made by Southern States. If you can't find wheat bran you can go with rolled oats from the grocery but it is more costly. They seem to like both just as well.
A 50# bag of wheat bran here is around $12.​