How to breed and grow mealworms for chickens
Chickens are very fond of mealy worms - they eat them just with a staggering speed. Therefore, in order to save money, many owners try to breed this live food themselves - what could be better than having a constant and free source of healthy protein for their birds.
However, many attempts to breed worms end before they can begin. Imagine you buy a box of unusual animals, come home, remove the lid, and there are a bunch of wriggling worms! Not everyone has nerves. Some in panic throw the box into the chicken coop, to the great delight of the birds - a whole bunch of delicious treats!
Owners of chickens who have successful long-term experience in breeding the larvae of the darkling beetle (flour beetle) share useful tips. They grow them in special "farms" - three-tiered plastic containers. Each level is designed for a specific stage in the insect's life cycle.
Life cycle of the darkling beetle (flour beetle)
The cycle consists of several stages:
- Darkling beetles lay their eggs. The incubation period lasts from 1 to 4 weeks, after which larvae hatch from the eggs.
- The larval stage (called mealworms) lasts 8-10 weeks.
- Then the worms turn into pupae, and a gradual metamorphosis into beetles begins. This process can take 1 to 3 weeks.
- The formed beetles live 4-16 weeks.
As you can see, the flour beetle has a life cycle of several weeks, so it will take you some time to provide the chickens with enough of their favorite food. In addition, you will need to leave some worms in order for them to turn into beetles - the life cycle must constantly repeat itself.
How to set up a "farm" for worms
To set up a farm, you need a three-level box.
Bottom drawer
Place live mealworms (darkling beetle larvae) in a layer of a mixture that is at least 2.5 cm thick, consisting of corn, wheat, and oat flour (or other ground cereals you have in your pantry). Put vegetables or fruits there as a source of moisture. Make sure that there is no excess moisture, otherwise the decay process will begin. Perfect fit:
- half an apple;
- half a potato;
- lettuce, cabbage or celery leaves.
In addition, put half of an egg carton or a few pieces of cardboard in the box - worms like to hide under them and crawl around them.
Clean the bottom of the drawer once a month and replace the grain mixture with a fresh one. Use a plastic fork to sift the flour regularly at the bottom to find the pupae and move them to the top drawer, where they will eventually turn into beetles.
Top drawer
The bottom of the top box needs to be cut out and replaced with a mesh, which will allow the beetle eggs to fall into the middle box. The net could be dispensed with, but beetles often kill and eat pupae, so separating them will allow you to better track the process of becoming beetles. Watching the metamorphosis (transformation) never gets boring! The pupae that you put in the top crate eventually turn into egg-laying beetles.Pupae do not eat or drink, but beetles need to be given lettuce leaves and put pieces of cardboard or halves of egg packages on the bottom so that they can hide under them.
Middle drawer
The middle drawer should contain the same flour mixture and vegetables as the lower drawer so that the larvae - mealworms - hatching from the eggs can feed. After they are old enough, start feeding them to the chickens.
Do not forget to leave some of the worms to replenish the bottom crate, so that they turn first into pupae and then into beetles. Thus, the life cycle will be continuously maintained.
So, you will use the middle box to feed the mealworms before giving them to the chickens, the lower box for breeding and separating the pupae from the worms, the upper box for turning pupae into beetles and laying eggs.
You can also dry mealworms for later use or simply store them in the refrigerator. This will prevent the worms from turning into pupae and keep them as larvae. Believe me, chickens love this food in any form - live, dried or chilled!
Super worms
A friend of mine keeps lizards and also breeds worms for them. Once, when he went on vacation, I had to look after them. The worms were in a multi-tiered container and did not seem so scary anymore. All I had to do was just add some vegetables if they ran out. Later, a friend of mine shared his experience of growing worms. Here's what he said:
“I once saw these tiered containers on the website, which experienced chicken owners say are very convenient for worm breeding. So I began to breed flour beetle larvae. But my reptiles ate worms with such lightning speed that I did not have time to grow them. Now I breed super worms. They are slightly different - the worms / beetles are larger and better suited for reptiles - they have softer exoskeletons, high moisture content, and are better digested. I am sure that all these benefits will be beneficial for chickens as well.
Super worms take a little longer to reproduce. Through experience I have found that carrot and kale are the best sources of moisture for them. Both foods are rich in vitamins that my reptiles need. Besides, when they rot, no mold is formed and there is no smell. "
Some more useful information:
- the optimum temperature for breeding darkling beetles is 21–27 ° C;
- during growth, mealworms molt - shed their exoskeleton, more than 10 times during a 2-month life cycle;
- dead beetles and worms must be periodically removed from the container;
- the darkling beetle lays on average up to 500 eggs at a time, so be
- ready for a HUGE number of worms when you start breeding them!