Our chickens love mealworms and they are a great source of protein which helps them lay healthier eggs for us. Mealworms are expensive at the feed store, and we are on a mission to become more sustainable, so I decided to grow mealworms. Yes, me.
SIDE NOTE: Here are some things that just a few years ago I either DID say, or WOULD HAVE SAID that I would never, ever do:
-Breastfeed past 2 years
-Use a menstrual cup
-Cloth diaper two babies at once
-Cloth diaper at all
-Want a farm
-Buy a farm
-Have a baby at home… on purpose
-Own 30+ chickens, or even one chicken
-Homeschool my kids
-Have snake skin and dead dragonflies in my freezer
-Grow mealworms in my house
I now do all of those things. And if I wanted to spend more than a couple minutes, I could make that list twice as long. What am I learning? Never say never. Keep an open mind. And be careful who I call weird, because I might just turn into them. And it might make me happy as a clam.
Back to the worms!
Over the weekend I mentioned to the kids that we were going to start a “life cycle of a mealworm” unit on Monday. I also mentioned that it might include us starting our own mealworm farm. They wanted to start ASAP. Not Monday.
I have a friend who has paved the way in my chicken-loving insanity, and she told us to come on over and she’d start us out with our first batch of mealworms, so off we went.
My husband is a SAINT, y’all. How I landed a man that is down to roll with the punches required to be married to me, I will never ever know.
Before we went, I downloaded this FREE MEALWORM LIFECYCLE PRINTABLE.
We got the worms. I’ll spare you the pictures.
Here’s the details on how easy it is to grow your own mealworms at home:
What you need:
-A plastic or glass tub of some sort (just needs smooth sides so they can’t crawl out… *shudder*)
-Oats
-A potato
-A wash cloth
-Some mealworms (if you don’t have a friend to give you the hookup, you can order online)
What you do:
Put the oats in the tub and add the mealworms. Every few days, toss them a chunk of potato. Keep the tub covered in a towel (like on top of them), and store in a cool dark place. It doesn’t have to be cold, just not in a hot garage or something. That’s it! They will multiply as fast as your chickies can eat them, and you’ll never run out. FREE WORMS FOR LIFE. Literally what more could any woman ever want.
That’s it! That’s how to raise mealworms at home.
I promise to blog about these never again.
Also, here’s a picture of the beautiful fertile eggs that my friend also gave us while we were at her house. I’ll post about what we’re up to with those a little later!
XO
Madison Vining