I don't know about going thru all of that trouble just to feed my own chickens, but I wonder if it would be a feasible way to make some extra $$ on the side. Pet owners and fisherman alike would probably love to stock up on some mealworms. I used to feed them to my lizard all the time and would buy 100 of them from PetCo a few times each month. My brother likes to fish with them when trying to catch bass from a lake near his house.

Good luck!

How did the meal worm project go?

Would it be possible to produce 3 lbs a day?

Thanks!

Bill

After extensive research, we concluded that black soldier fly larvae made a lot more sense than mealworms. The trouble with mealworms is that you have to grow them on grain products, which means storebought ingredients. Our goal is to eventually produce our chicken feed without buying anything from the store.

That said, we didn't even get our black soldier fly bin made this year! It's been a busy summer... We did, however, start a forest pasture project to allow our chickens to forage for some of their own food.

A quick search of the internet suggests that mealworms eat "decaying leaves, sticks, and grasses" in the wild. So, you might get away with feeding them something like lawn clippings, but I think that kitchen scraps would be too wet for them. (Those would be far better off going to black soldier fly larvae.)

I think the best strategy in raising insects is first figuring out the food stream. What kind of food do you have going to waste (or what kind of yard waste is available?) Then try to match up the insect to the waste product. Of course, every kind of insect eats something different, so you can't just assume that since a silkworm eats mulberry leaves, everything else can too.

I have lots of cut timber and paper, that I would like to chip, to turn into compost. But I don't have a good chipper, and don't like the idea of using all that energy to chip, anyway. I thought, if only there was some way of feeding the wood and paper to termites in a controlled way, the termites could also be a good chicken feed. And they would also be breaking down the timber to mulch. A double bonus. I did a bit of googling, and found the practise of termite feeding to chickens is common in the third world. http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/doc97html/ecoinsectfeed78.html I don't know if you have any types of termites where you are. Here there are many species, and a few are considered serious pests.

I guess any intensive insect breeding may be too much work. But the way termites and a few species of cockroach can turn pure cellulose into food, is pretty amazing. By using specialized bugs in their guts. Maybe the easiest, and most practical thing is to get as much free biomass waste as possible, keep it moist, then the insects breed automatically. And the soil is improved as well. I am a big fan of wood chips, since I can get truckloads for free, from tree loppers. I keep it moist, add some nitrogen (eg urine & blood and bone). A big pile breaks down within a year of two, to a nice black mulch, and there are millions of insects in it. I suppose there are practical ways to let the chickens get those insects themselves.

Crickets sound easy to breed, but in reality theya re kind of hard. I tried three times with 100 crickets and it didn't work, so I'm now trying dubia roaches. They are easily sexed, don't smell jump, fly and can't climb glass. They have more nutrients and breed rather fast.

Of course, Turkistan roaches would breed faster, but...They look creepy... I'm starting with 200 small nymphs, takes them 6 months to become adults, and live for another year or so. It would be easy to feed them off at half size. They can eat anything (I'm going to feed them store brand dog food) and for water give them water crystals, which are only $1 an ounce (makes 3 gallons.)

Here's a bit of math(for dubia). 100 females, 20 males. 100x 30= 3,000 a month untill month 6 when 2,800 female 320 male 2800x 30= 84,000. 2,000 adults can live in a ten gallon tank.

Josh --- I'd put them in a separate dish, and only give them as many as they'd eat in about ten minutes, tops. Depending on how much foraging your chickens have done in the past, you might need to help the chickens realize the mealworms are food, but most of them will probably take to them right away.

Jackie --- I'll admit I haven't been to a bait store recently (ever?), but I thought they sold redworms, not mealworms? If they sell mealworms too, then you should be able to use those as a starter culture. You might have better luck finding them at a pet store.

Yes, all our bait stores sell meal worms. We fish with them all the time. They are great for bass. What exactly is the starter culture? Is that the wheat bran? Thank you for your help.