How To Grow Your Own Mealworms

How To Grow Your Own Mealworms LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment Want to treat your backyard chickens to mealworms? You can raise your own and save money says Kenny Coogan a poultry guru who’s known for his chicken training techniques Vol 38 No 4 “The idea is to buy 500 or more worms in the beginning and be able to sustain the colony for several years ” Coogan says Cost for 1 000 mealworms online runs between $14 and $20 and a 10 by 20-in clear plastic tub can sustain 1 000 to 5 000 mealworms Coogan cuts a hole into the lid for adding table scraps daily and covers it with a screen Place the mealworms in a few inches of wheat bran corn meal bone meal or commercial mealworm bedding The mealworm cycle is larvae-to-pupa-to beetles which lay the eggs Once the eggs are laid Coogan suggests moving the beetles to another bin A female beetle can lay as many as 500 eggs Kept at 70-80 F degrees the eggs hatch in 10 to 12 days and the larvae grow to about an inch in about 10 weeks “The larvae stage is the typical stage that they are fed to chickens ” Coogan says “A small handful of mealworms every day or two is fine ” He uses mealworms to train his chickens and to reinforce behaviors like going in the coop at night Growing superworms takes longer - about 5 months to grow to 2 1/4 in - and adult beetles need to be removed every two or three weeks to allow the eggs to hatch as adults will eat the eggs Coogan suggests starting with 100 superworms about $5 and placing worms in individual compartments of a clear grid jewelry organizer box Cut a small breathing hole in each cell and place the container in a dark area for 10 days Once they change into pupae put them in a separate nursery container so beetles and larvae won’t eat them After the pupae turn into beetles put them in a breeder container and feed them as you would feed mealworms After the beetles’ eggs hatch in about a week move the beetles into another container so that the larvae can grow into superworms Repeat the cycle for a continuous supply Besides feeding your own chickens growing the worms can be a sideline business “There is a large pet reptile sector who are interested in growing mealworms and superworms These people should not be overlooked if you are thinking about raising your own beetles for resale ” Coogan says “It’s fun to watch the life cycle of insects ” he adds “It’s easy to raise them and easy to incorporate kids helping out in the husbandry tasks ” For more details check out his books blogs and workshops on his website Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Kenny Coogan Tampa Fla www kennycoogan com; Facebook: Critter Companions by Kenny Coogan

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.