maizey Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Hello members, I believe one can buy A MEAL WORM breeding kit for £8-50 from ww.wigglywigglers. Can anyone tell me what is involved THANKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Mine came today. I got three small tubs of worms and their bran feed. You put them into an ice cream tub and feed them small pieces of fruit/veg for moisture, then after a few weeks they become pupae and are transferred ot a second tub. Here they are left until they hatch into beetles. You then transfer the beetles to a third tub with more bran and fruit/veg and let them do what comes naturally. They will then lay eggs and die and the cycle starts again. I have to admit they are a bit freaky but Abi is fascinated. If nothing else they make a good science project!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Are you doing this to give treats to your hens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Yes, apparently dried worms don't have much nutrition in them and in any case they are just too expensive. I thought i would give this a go. I am now a fully fledged farmer (of worms) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I started another thread about this a few days ago in the nesting box forum as I've started doing it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jos Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I started breeding in the summer... it is quite straightforward but all the stages take some time and after the eggs hatch the worms are absolutely teeny so you you don't really know they are there for a week or two until the bran starts to move and then, if you look carefully, there are these hundreds of tiny little worms! Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Oooh, how exciting. I'll have to give it a go. The one and only time I bought the chooks a tub of live mealworms they ate £1.50 worth in about 20 seconds between 2 of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Jos, when it says change the food, do they mean the bran or just the fruit/veg that you put in? I really don't fancy picking the worms out of the bran, i'll never find them all. Any tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jos Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi Hellywelly, you need to pick out the uneaten bits of veg regularily, also, after a while the tub with the beetles in will accumulate alot of their waste. I found it impossible to clean out without knowing if I was throwing out eggs as well so now I just pick the beetles out after 2-3 weeks and put them in a clean tub of bran. They are fine to handle... actually I've got quite fond of mine now!! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkate Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Sounds fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 They are fine to handle... actually I've got quite fond of mine now!! Do they have names? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jos Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 well.... there's John, Paul, Ringo, George......Just Kidding!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Where do you need to keep this ice cream tub? Does it need to be in the house? Don't they try to escape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jos Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 they should be kept at room temperature..... as long as the sides of the container are steep and slidey they can't climb out and escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...