This post isn’t for the squeamish.
Chickens love mealworms. I guy a container of dried mealworms for $10 and that lasts about 2 weeks if I’m conservative with their treats. Mealworms are a good source of protein so I don’t mind giving them to the chickens but then the thought occurred to me .. why not grow my own.
After a bit of research, I was confident I could be a good worm mother! 🙂
Mealworms
I’ve ordered 2,000 of them and soon, I’ll have a bumper crop of mealworms and my chickens can get added protein/treats without breaking the bank. Just in case anyone wants their own crop of mealworms, I ordered mine here.
Me: I ordered some mealworms.
Vince: Were they cheaper than what we pay at Tractor Supply?
Me: No . . these are alive! I’m going to raise them! (He is skeptical)
Vince: What kind of container do you need?
Me: Rubbermaid .. at least 6″ tall, more surface area than less.
Vince: What do they eat?
Me: Mostly whatever I feed them. Veggie scraps mostly.
Vince: Do they stink?
Me: I hope not. They have to live in the laundry room until it gets warmer outside.
Vince: NO!! NO!!
Me: They won’t stink if we keep them clean.
Vince: How do we keep them clean?
Yes, he’s very skeptical. I’m not worried! Yes . . I will be a good worm mother!
Bree says
How Funny! I was just doing some research on this. We do keep worms and they are so easy but My chicks are such pigs the Worms don’t produce fast enough for my garden and the chickens! Where did you end up ordering them from?
JudyL says
I ordered mine through Amazon. I will report back here once they arrive and let you know how they are . . dead or alive; happy or sad! 🙂
Melinda says
Okay, Judy, how do you keep them clean? I’m sitting here with some pretty funny images running through my mind. Thanks for the laugh, it will help keep me warm.
Roberta says
When ever I’ve seen meal worms they’ve been in feed, grainy things. Do they really eat veggies and maybe garden waste??? I know earth worms eat plant waste.
Hugs!!!!
sharon says
I’ve raised many of them when we had hedgehogs. They are easy to raise and you’ll do just fine, but you probably will only clean the container between cycles.
Audrey says
You are a brave woman or should I say “Worm Mother”! I would have nightmares about those little guys if they were in my house! 🙂
Linda (Petey) says
Judy,
You will be a good ‘worm’ mother. We used to have them at school for science class and to feed our class’ hedgehog. They were easy…kept them in a canister of oatmeal and the worms seemed to do well. There were times when there were no worms, just pupas; but don’t throw anything out! The worms will hatch in a few days. Have fun and the chickens will love you more.
Lee Ann L. says
I have a friend who tried her hand at this for her own chickens and discovered that it was just too much work! LOL. Keep us up-to-date on your adventure as I am still interested in doing this for the day when I finally get chickens.
JudyL says
What one person sees as work, another sees as fun. What I’ve read, they’re not much trouble at all. It’s a small investment so if it isn’t something I don’t enjoy, I’ll just feed them all to the chickens and be done.
Stephanie says
We had some mealworms, once upon a time. We just went down to the live bait store and bought a couple of containers. They lived downstairs in the garage and did just great. Of course, I was only putting out a few here and there for the birdfeeders in my front yard… I can see how chickens would probably take a lot more! Good luck. (And tell Vince they don’t really stink. I would NOT have allowed them if they did!) 🙂
Sherrill says
OHHHHHHHH, that is SO GROSS!! Earthworms don’t bother me but disgusting grubs and the like really gross me out! I could NEVER do that!! UGH!
Katie Z. says
Ew! Your idea is brilliant, but I am afraid I am still squeamish about worms wriggling around in my house!
Terri says
you guys are so funny! I’d love to be a fly on the wall listening to some of these conversations…….
regular worms kinda gross me out, and I’m sure 2000 of these little critters would even more 🙂 I’m such a sissy! But… they are expensive at TS so maybe when the snow melts here I’ll see how your’s are doing.
Sue K says
You are a brave woman. How do you keep them from getting all over the house???? Will Boots try to get at them?? Extra protein for him too . . .
Helen Baczynski says
We raised super worms for our lizard. Your photo looks like those but yours may be smaller. Anyway they were easy to raise. We kept them in a grey busboy tray with oatmeal and bran bedding that they ate. We gave them sliced potato or cucumber for moisture. From time to time we would remove a few and place them individually in compartments of a fishing tackle box. The stress of not being fed would make them pupate and in a few more days they’d become black beetles. We kept the beetles in a smaller Glad boxes with the same bedding and they’d soon start mating and laying eggs. After a while we’d see lots of tiny worms and then we’d move them to another tray. We gave them cardboard egg trays placed up side down as hiding places. The worms got those too. They’d gradually eat their way through them. As the tiny worms got larger we’d move them in with the bigger worms. Don’t leave he tiny worms with beetles or the big worms or they may get eaten. They didn’t smell, unlike crickets that smell really bad. Easy to care for and easy to breed. Surprisingly the beetles never tried to escape.
JudyL says
One thing I read was that the super worms don’t reproduce as well as the regular worms so I ordered regular worms.
Robin says
I use to raise mralworms for my anole lizards when I was a teen! You’ll do fine….but be aware that if you let them live too long they will become beetles! LOL don’t tell hobby that bit of info….some things he doesn’t need to know 😉
JudyL says
I need for them to become beetles so they will lay eggs and reproduce.
Kathy S. says
Judy: I just love your posts about your chickens — and now your worms! I have been wanting chickens for about three years now. Well to make a long story short my friend has to move and I am buying ALL of her stuff… chickens, coop, lights, feeders, waterers… I’m going to see them for the first time on Saturday. I can’t wait!!! Thanks for inspiring me not only with your quilts, but also your chickens!
Rebecca in SoCal says
This is an adventure I will NOT envy.
BTW, this was the latest post when I opened Feedly on my phone today, making that photo the “cover.” Eewww
Terri says
I think you will find that meal worms eat meal – they are the bad things you find in really old flour. They aren’t like earthworms. You need more research, and you need to check specifically for meal worms.
Hugs
JudyL says
I’ve done plenty of research! They will eat meal but they also eat vegetable clippings, oats, wheat, even the powdery residue leftover in the bottom of the chicken feed bags.
Susan says
They don’t stink. I raised them year after year in my second grade classroom for our science kits! They are easy, they love to multiply in the dark, throw in a few bits of potato or carrot now and then (raw) for water. Don’t put anything really wet, like oranges in there or it gets moldy.
I kept mine in clear licorice buckets and just poured in bran and wheat germ, then dumped the worms in. After the first year, I never bought more because they are prolific. After the beetle cycle, when new ones hatched, I screened out the mealworms and dumped all the old junk out, putting in fresh food. I hear you can use chick crumbles (with no antibiotics, preferably) and they are fine, too. Mine didn’t like oats, I can tell you that. =)
The beetles can fly, so keep a screen over them. I never did anything special, they just lived in their little containers and did their little lifespans. I left them in the closet at school over the summer and always came back to lots of little worms.
Susan says
Btw, to answer Vince’s question about keeping them clean – they just ARE clean. There’s nothing you have to do. I never had more than about 500 at a time, but I never felt bad about putting my hands in the containers and scooping them out. They tickle when they walk across your palm. My students had mealworm races – sometimes they cooperated. LOL They aren’t really worms, of course.
Joanne Caglione says
Lol!! I raised mealworms for my girls:-) Didn’t want to spend the dough for live ones. I researched and had my worm farm going. I became a slave to the mealworms! LOL It didn’t seem as easy for me as the Youtube videos I watched…Anyway, after spending as much or more to raise my own, I abandoned the idea – “gave up the farm” and repurposed all the stuff I was using. Once in a while I splurge on live ones but now I get the dried ones at Lowes in the wild bird section and everyone is happy. But you go girl and good luck in your new endevour:-)
Jo
Diana says
Oh my goodness . .that is similar to a conversation we had but not about meal worms !LOL
CJ says
I’ve always wanted to try my hand at worm raising (have several books on it) but haven’t ever tried it yet. I’ll look forward to your adventure! Now, to be even more gross, in the old days folks would hang a piece of meat in the barn from a string, just out of reach of jumping chickens, and as it began to rot, maggots would set in and the chickens would thrive on them. How’s that for some morning lore while you have your (tea?)
Dana Pellerin says
I really don’t need any worms but as a whole I think they would make a pretty piece of fabric.LOL