Raising Meal Worms for the Laying Flock (part 1)
I am embarking on a new hobby—raising meal worms. I have free-range chickens and one of the challenges in the frigid winter is the lack of bugs (protein) outside. The chickens have a mash ration available to them, but it is not as good as the summer diet of bugs and greens.
From my research I have learned that feeding extra protein through the winter will keep egg production up. This is very eggsciting! Egg laying tends to fall off during the winter, in some breeds going to nothing. Meal worms are easily raised indoors, thus making them an ideal winter source of protein.
It seems as simple as apple pie. In a plastic container (the size of a sweater box) several inches high on the sides, put a good layer of chicken mash. This will be the larvae’s bedding, food and egg-laying substrate. Add the meal worms. Once a week add a slice of apple or potato, or piece of lettuce for their drink. That’s it!
The meal worms will eventually pupate, then hatch into darkling beetles. The beetles have wings but cannot fly and they don’t bite or sting. They will lay hundreds of eggs each, which will hatch into meal worms and now is time for harvesting.
These guys don’t even need a lid on the container (except to protect them from the pet cat). They don’t smell since they eat grains (meal). There is just no downside to this project.
Now if you are smarter than me and start this project in the warmer months you can find your own meal worms wherever in the barn you may have some spilled feed. At this point in the season however, I have to go purchase them from the local bait store.
Meal worms are also used for fishing bait, feeding koi and aquarium fish, feeding reptiles, and feeding many types of birds including bluebirds and a variety of poultry. I imagine if we come to a TEOTWAWKI scenario, they would be a good source of winter protein for people, too. Some claim to enjoy them roasted and cut up in salads. I am going to take their word for it for the time being.
I’ll be back next time with photos of my new set up.
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Julie Helms is unperturbed by her family who say helpful things like, “you want to raise WHAT in the house??” Anything for her beloved chickens! She blogs about living with sheep, chickens and goats at WoolyAcres.
3 Responses to “Raising Meal Worms for the Laying Flock (part 1)”
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Julie, this is so cool! Raising your own protein feed for the chickens is true self reliance. Love it!
This is a great idea. It brings back memories from when I was a kid. My father taught biology. We used to raise meal worms to feed toads and lizards. Now I’ll have to consider them for fishing as well. With respect to chickens, I’ll chime in with maggots and mice, but neither of them will be raised indoors. Nor will I consider them as a source of food for me. http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/chicken-food.html
Clair, good article you put in your comment. One thing to note is that you can do that exact same “maggot in the bucket with holes” technique with kitchen scraps just as well. I’ve been learning all about the black soldier fly larvae which consumes a vast quantity of vegetable, meat or even manure waste. But if the smell of rotting meat is bothersome, stick to the veggies and you will still get plenty o’ maggots!