Mealworms

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watson

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How often do people give their chickens Mealworms? It's not something we have given ours but thought we would try them with some.

iv just started a mealworm farm so we don't have to keep buying them. I gave a few to the chickens and they loved them!

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Hi Watson,

I have a mealworm farm - I'm now on to the second lot of pupae but no-one told my beetles they only survived about 30 days. I still have beetles that hatched in August. I give my birds a few every day as a treat and they come running when I approach the enclosure at about 3.45 pm. They aren't free ranging yet so I'm hoping whern they are they will come to me so I can get them in.

They are quite high in protein, unlike maggots which are fat, but I give them about half a dozen each of the biggest I can find.
 
Do you have mesh in the beetle drawer to auto sort the eggs/ babies or do you sieve them every now and then?

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I didn't have a suitable container so I keep the beetles in a deep plastic box with mesh on top to stop them flying out . The info I downloaded said "when they start dying ....". Mine were showing no sign of dying off so every month I take all the beetles out (by hand) and tip everything into another container so the eggs can hatch. Don't throw any remains of veg you put in there away as the often lay their eggs on it! I have an old cat litter tray and some old washing up bowls. Then I put clean bran in the beetles box, replace the bits of eggcrate and give them some fresh greens - and repeat the process a month later. I got a bit lax about it and found some quite sizeable mealworms in amongst the beetles!

Having had loads of mealworms hatch out (in two containers), I eventually sieved those to get rid of the "frass". The poor things were living in about 2 " of frass and very little bran. I combined both of those so now have one container of mealworms of varying sizes, one container of a diminishing number of beetles, and one container which should be hatching mealworms as it was the last "beetle empty". (Note to self - go and check for signs of tiny mealworms).

It takes time for the eggs to hatch, a couple of weeks if I remember correctly. The way to check is to scoop some of the bran on to your hand and watch for a few minutes and you may see the bran move. The newly hatched mealworms are REALLY tiny, quite difficult to spot, but if the bran moves there's somethinhg there.

When the mealworms start to pupate you must remove the pupae form the box - mealworms are horribly cannabalistic. I just keep the pupae in a pot until the beetles hatch (they are cream and brown initially, changing to black as they harden off) and then move them into a container as described at the top of this post. I'm hoping that the existing beetles will have died off by the time the new ones hatch, as they are dying off quite quickly at the moment.

When I started I kept quite a lot of the original purchased mealworms in boxes in the fridge to feed to the hens as it takes a couple of months before you get your own. Just make sure they have some vegeatble matter - leaves or a sliced carrot to give them moisture. It's very important for the beetles - I read somewhere that if you put the newly hatched beetles on a slice of dampened bread they lay sooner but I haven't tried it.
 
mine get meal worms every day and the left over wax worms that the lizards has not eaten.
i only have to shake the bag and the chickens are running in as fast as they can.
 
When I cut down some more timber they may get some more 2" maggots. But we've dug over the veggy plot and Botty has had some grubs- don't know what they were but he talked to them before eating them.
 
@marigaid where do you keep your farm? As our chickens are not at home I have put mine in the shed and covered it all in 3 inch foam to keep them warm

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I don't buy meal worms often. Only in the winter months usually since they aren't getting the normal bugs. I am considering starting a meal farm, but I am thinking that my 2 boys would have to much fun checking them out all the time. Don't so much like the idea of mealworms where they shouldn't be. Never know, just may do it one day.
 
On top of the plan press in OH's workshop at the moment. It's usually heated during the day. If they're not warm enough they go sort of comatose and don't grow - I kept some in the fridge for about 2 months. The wild bird food suppliers where I bought mine suggest keeping them cool and then "they last about 6 weeks" that is until they start to pupate.

Not sure where I'll keep them when the building work is finished, possibly whereever I then keep the chooks feed, or else it will have to be in the laundry room.
 
@NovaAman they shouldn't escape, the Beatles can fly but if they have enough food they won't try to escape

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Keep them in a straight sided plastic or metal container about 5" deep with not more than 2 " of bran, just make sure the sides are smooth then they can't climb out. If there are scratches in the plastic the smaller worms can get a grip - the big ones are too heavy and fall off. Deep cat litter trays are good, so are washing up bowls. I've not had mealworms escape but a few beetles got out before I completely covered the box with mesh.
 
After all your loving care and the time spent looking after them, Margaid, I'm surprised you have the heart to actually feed them to the hens! Though I know you've been waiting ages for chickens if your own, and have obviously been making good use of your time in preparation for the great day.
 
The loving care is to make sure they're in top condition for the birds Marigold. I can be totally callous about the mealworms - they aren't exactly attractive creatures or inspiring pets! I still have to get the other two from my friend's - she's having to be careful about letting them out of the electric enclosure as her neighbour's Beagle has started getting out and sniffing around

It started raining heavily just before I was due to go and give the birds their evening treat and they had put themselves to bed. I put some mealworms and sunflower seeds is a shallow dish intending to put it inside the coop so they could find it but when I opened the back door to check all three were there Pink hen (she has a pink band to identify her) started pecking out of the dish while I held it. For once she got nearly all the treats instead of being chased off by Henny Penny. It seemed slightly unfair as HP had laid another egg (it's every other day now) and didn't get any.

I was getting a bit concerned about Pink hen as her poos were a bit watery and her crop didn't look very full going to bed and I read somewhere watery poos can be an indication of not enough to eat. Yesterday I put their food out in a shallow container and this evening they had eaten quite a lot but it was too dark to see her crop. She isn't getting chased much now so hopefully they're settling down together. They seem to be happily scratching about but this rain will bring the puddles back. I can see them from the caravan so I check on them quite frequently at the moment.
 
Can tell its starting to warm up again, the Mealworms are looking more lively again today.

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Because mine are in OH's (sometimes) heated workshop they have been pupating. I now have quite alot of pupae for the next batch of beetles so I divided the mealworms into three onelitre icecream cartons, on bran, and have put them in the fridge to slow them down. All the orginal hatch of beetles have now died - 5 months on, instead of the 30 days they're supposed to survive.

The trick with the refridgerated worms is to let them all warm up once a week so they continue to grow slowly. If I start running out of bigger worms I'll just keep one carton out of the fridge.

Don't forget to give them cabbage leaves or bits of carrot as they need the moisture.
 
Iv got a couple of slices of potato in with them for moisture, although they don't stay moist very long I might try something else in with them

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Nothing does. I use the outer leaves of cauliflower, cut into long strips. I also cut carrots int long chunks - they can completely disappear. If you forget for a couple of days and then put something in, try picking it up about an hour later and you'll find them hanging off it.
 
When I had mealworms growing I used to feed them on the strips the vegetable cutter peeled off the outside of the carrots. These seemed popular as I suppose they were this and easy to eat.
 
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