Better than Self-Sorting: Home Mealworm Farm Overview

[@haraldcoppoolse4149]

Now that you seem to have established the best method, could you make a video (or write down), how many boxes you have, and the contents it has, how often you sift, after how many weeks you think that the mealworms are grown enough to be fed. How do you remove the dead beatles, etc.

[@regwells615]

Thanks for taking the time to make this.

[@Bethany0420]

Another thing my mealworms and Beatles love is hard ground up dog food, and also a different mixture of ground cereals.

[@Bamlydean]

This is by far the best video I have ever seen for raising meal worms!

[@Nibbles2point0]

Me too!!

[@dawnschneider4688]

We used the green sifters for gold mining. Long time ago.

[@edwardkeenan6138]

Cool man you're helping me save money thank you and God bless you

[@wifigrannyl.1354]

Great idea. I plan on getting chickens soon. Your silkies are gorgeous & look so healthy!

[@katblevins8736]

Wow! Cool looking chickens!

[@thinkandgoaloe2432]

They are called silkie chickens. Very friendly hens

[@tonywhiston6768]

Great tutorial bud I'm over in the UK and have a few friends that have chicken reptiles and feed garden birds. The tubs are easily sourced here in the UK thru Asda a Walmart Company. What I was interested in was the mesh sizes of the sieves as I may be able to utilise the sieves from my worm castings. The left over Bran substrate could also be fed into the worm bins. Regards from the UK

[@propergander8509]

Imagine you're a Beetle and just minding your business, when suddenly some furry dude pours you and your friends out of your home and starts sifting you... LMAO

[@Nibbles2point0]

ARMAGEDDON!!! 😂

[@sheraklassen4163]

@@Nibbles2point0 Wormageddon! 😂

[@chrisinedison]

Proper Gander 😂😂😂😂😂 Hilarious

[@jackpepperfarms3416]

Hahaha right! Lol

[@stephaniephilo6964]

So, like an alien Abuct!on 😏 nice

[@Nibbles2point0]

Thank you for this video!! I just started a tiny farm, then like a week later I’m at Walmart buying bins and ordering 7000 mealworms!!! I decided to skip the method where the eggs fall through the screen, instead I am doing what you are doing. Sort em. I need more beetles though, I think I’m going to buy some extra pupae on eBay.

[@pecador_tor]

Just keep feeding the mealworms so they can pupate

[@patshhi4620]

I didn’t know there were different colors of Silkies. I’ve only seen white. I like those guys......those screens are nice. I can see why they save you time. Thanks for another great video.

[@PermacultureAutonomie]

hi, thank you from france, i start my litlle mealworm farm for my chikens 3 month ago, this insect are so productif ,it's crazy..

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

Permaculture Autonomie so crazy, and so easy 😊 Thanks for watching!

[@beebop9808]

Happy chickens! I'm feeding the song birds with mine. I just started experimenting with feeding my frass to my compost worm bins. Looks like they're liking it. It's all a fun little adventure!

[@reneebrown2968]

Now the pupae sifter is a game changer.

[@Chickmamapalletfarm]

Cool video. I am just getting started and I was thinking of getting 2000 large to start. You have validated that choice. I am just looking to supplement protein for chickens and quail.

[@reneebrown2968]

I would love to be able to feed my hens about 1 lbs of them a day or so. That is what I would love to get up to. That and garden scraps I figure would feed my 6 hens fully.

[@organgem]

Love your channel! This video has been a big help! Let's have an update on your operation!

[@margaretmathis4775]

Thank you! I am feeding mealworms to my bluebirds and to my box turtles. As much as the turtles LOVE mealworms, I think they would be in heaven for a few of the beetles!

[@jsmartin1300]

Great video! What brand of wheat bran do you use?

[@beebob1279]

Thanks, Nice presentation. I'm just starting to investigate raising these things for fishing ( I have a few worm bins now). Do you have a video on the equipment and where to get it for starting? Where are you getting wheat bran? How much is it for a bag?

[@HorsePower7731]

Great video...I also have mealworms (In Juarez City, Chihuahua Mexico). I do clean them so similar to you. Thank you so much for share your skills and tips. 👍👍👍

[@Holypikemanz]

adorable chickens

[@chrisinedison]

Great method. Thanks for sharing.

[@roshnijaffery4886]

This video was so helpful thank you!

[@nebenazemi9045]

Great system - thanks for the video. 👍

[@carrytheworldnonprofit2883]

as far as I heard, mealworms should only be a small percentage of the food, chickens eat. I don't know for sure because I haven't tried it out yet. I do grow mealworms but I also grow corn, wheat, sunflowers, and some other stuff I don't know the english name of, for the chickens. My chickens only get about 5 percent of mealworms a day and about 5 percent of eisenia hortensis. The eisenia's are totally free because of the compostables I get from my kitchen and other people. Nice video. Keep up the good work. Love your chickens btw.

[@ufochris]

I read 10 mealies per chicken per day .

[@labella9291]

I am so glad to see you wearing a mask Ever since I developed mealworm allergies, I have been screaming about people wearing masks due to the frass.

[@coleweede1953]

What did you mean? What's wrong with mealworms

[@DonnieBrasco-dy9yd]

@@coleweede1953 Did you even read the comment?

[@marcheattention]

Great! I like the video. Thank you. Also, the music is awesome!

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Helpful tips, thank you

[@Shells_shells]

Great video! Def going to use this method when i expand my chicken flock. right now i have a smaller meal worm farm set up, so sorting is much easier.

[@clarissacolson4784]

Thank you for your video. I am wondering what your investment had been to get to the point of feeding your flock on the mealworms?

[@debrastone3536]

Love your video! Learned a lot!

[@peymanshahriary3611]

hi, what degree or temperature is suitable for drying mealworm? and how long i have to dry mealworm? I want to dry the mealworm with a fruit dryer. special thanks from you 🙏

[@forlornqueen]

Thanks so much, this is literally the best mealworm raising video that I've found! I'm vegan and don't want to buy any animal products but since we keep carnivorous animals it's necessary to raise food for them and those sifters will be a huge help. We have silkies too ^_^ glad this came up in my suggested video feed

[@joelsherrer8784]

If you can get food scraps from friends , wether they are vegan or not, the chickens can eat a good bit of it and they help compost the rest. I feed my moms laying flock on compost and meal worms. Also if they break their own eggs the shell is a good calcium source if you don’t want to support seafood farming(oyster shells). Hope this helps

[@DonnieBrasco-dy9yd]

You keep chickens but you won't eat eggs because you're a vegan? Lol...

[@Biaaaaaaaaa08]

you feel bad about buying animal products xxD cause your're vegan but but you don't feel bad about breeding a insect that has been systemically bred to be murdered to create silk... interesting...

[@teacher_of_the_arcane5399]

A tunnel system for your birds?? Don't let the CIA know you've gone underground ! :-)

[@andrewmcdonald7077]

Hey Will. Are the five breeding tubs, and therefore (I'm assuming) five grow-out tubs, enough to produce a pint of mealworms every day to feed my chickens? If not, how many breeding tubs and grow-out tubs do you think it will take to get to this level of sustained mealworm production?

[@patrickd9551]

instructables has a nice tutorial and build plan for a tower system to grow about 1 lbs of mealworms a week. Pretty detailed if I say so myself.

[@lisapierce1761]

I live in florida wondering should you have mealworms in a shelter or is it safe from pests outside

[@arielsarsalejo1344]

Your video is very helpful thank you so much❤️

[@timmeeuwissen120]

Hi! Thank you so much for this super clear and informative video. I don’t live in the USA, which makes it slightly harder to understand which sifts I need to have. I saw you basically use two of them, one that basically filters all beetles, and one for the ‘big enough mealworms’. Could you tell me which sizes they are? Because man they are expensive here and I’d like to make sure I have the correct sizes. Thanks so much!!

[@cerebral3591]

Agreed, also wondering this.

[@BlaisZeroni]

Did you ever find out?

[@mr.mister4071]

Lucky chickens. You are spoiling them but they hopefully are repaying you with a lot of eggs. Need to do this for my chickens. Thanks.

[@cerebral3591]

Hey, very nice setup! I was wondering if there's anything to update pros/cons? Thx :)

[@joferraro2694]

Ok, I use oatmeal and of course carrots. I've been a bit slack lately cleaning the bins out. I've noticed a lot of fine dust around the older carrot I got very few meal worms this time round and I'm wondering if that "fine stuff" was actually a heap of eggs. Your opinion?

[@jecriggs]

Thanks for this great how-to video! It's very timely for me. I am just into the first generation of all my own mealworms grown out ans starting to pupate. I know it's way past time to refresh my beetle drawer, but didn't really know how to easily separate them out. I really like the sifter set you use; it's on my wish list, but it's a bit too pricey for me ATM ($92 CAD is the best price I could find), so I will try to cobble together a DIY version to use until I can afford the real deal. Thanks again for a well done video.

[@TheRealDonFito]

try using a deep frying basket

[@brs6623]

Its basically a classifier not to expensive online

[@jpw.8972]

Thanks for the video well presented

[@Cindy-LeMarier]

Hi I really enjoy your videos. I’m trying to start meal worms and super worms for my bearded dragon babies. My problem is , I think I’m allergic to the wheat bran. I also have no place to keep all the tubs. Thank you, gramma lou

[@SamStone1964]

You could be allergic to the frass. Wear a mask, gloves and long sleeves when dealing with mealworms.

[@stuff2047]

I’m trying to learn how to do this for my birds…what do you do with the pupae you collected?

[@metodkolc8776]

Hey, I wonder how much mealworms you can produce from such a set up in a month?

[@quinwalker6469]

good question.

[@anjhindul]

That many bins? Not very many, enough for several chickens but not much more.

[@catrionaduncan9802]

I loved the video very informative, I have a small question, I noticed you stacked the containers with the mesh on top of each other. Surely they won’t be able to get sufficient air if these are blocked but maybe I missed something

[@UnisausS1]

Have you come acrossed any of yer tubs having Mealworm (Grain) Mites ? If you did, what have you done to get rid of them, yer process of elimination ??

[@RJ-iv6dv]

Great video! What do you do about dead beetles in your beetle bin? Do you need to pick them out by hand? Or do the live beetles just cannibalise them?

[@FusionDeveloper]

I never thought about removing deformed genetics, good idea.

[@MintyFarts]

Maybe I missed it but why do you want to sort out the pupae? To make more beetles? Are they too tough to feed to the chickens?

[@garygariano4952]

What do you do with the frass

[@rsrand0mguy650]

What kind of bran do you use for your substrate and where do you go to buy it in that big bag. I feel like buying bran in bulk like that would be a lot more cost effective.

[@fancybirdworldnp9208]

enjoyed watching video i just start mealworm farm to provide good sources of protein to some of my silkie breed

[@Cheryl5022]

scott also sells pupae sieve that fit inside the green sieve.

[@MrJamespcastle]

That is so true! As a matter of fact, I DEMAND that all of the FREE content be in HD! These FREE content producers who produce really useful videos, which show really useful information must get it into their heads that we lazy americans sitting on our couch getting fat DEMAND that the producers of content stop being so cheap and buy the newest HD video cameras! What is wrong with these lazy, stupid content producers? That is it! From now on i refuse to pay each video producer for their poorly made amateur videos!.....Oh, wait, the content is FREE. MORON.

[@erinhearn3350]

How often do you change the oats?

[@samanthaacker2056]

Thanks so much! How many beetles do you recommend in each pin? I was tired of driving 30 miles to get mealworms and only half be alive. So found somwonw around who was getring out of mealworms and gave me 1500 mealworms. Now i have so many beetles and it seems crowded... I know over 1000 beetles for sure

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

Samantha Acker I have a thousand in each of my bins, but that was a fairly arbitrary choice :/

[@FusionDeveloper]

Home grown mealworm can be fat and healthy and lively, compared to store bought. Just know that beetles seek out and kill pupae ferociously, so they must be separated as soon as possible.

[@anetteedland2003]

Hello, and thank you for all the videos. I was wondering if you can tell me what sice mesh on the green sifting trays that you use. I can see on the libk that you can buy them separate. And with me ordering from Norway, the shipping fee wil reduce😜 hope to hear from you👍

[@hanidarwish9641]

Great I found an update but long ago.. how r they ?

[@thijsachternaam14]

nice looks like a good set up, do you know how many mealworms you produce on a average in one month?

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

gaming pyro clips getting about 8 lbs a month, and still growing 😊

[@truman5838]

I watched Scott's video just yesterday. I knew who you were talking about as soon as you mentioned green sifters. Catch you on the next sift!

[@ezrazander]

This really helped feed my blue tongue skink. Thanks The 4 dislikes were mealworms getting fed to lizards

[@UnisausS1]

QUESTION : After the beetles shed from the pupa stage, how long do the beetles live for ?

[@s_wozzzie]

The males I think die after breeding while the female may lay eggs for a month and will ether die or continue to mate i think she dies tho but she lays around 500 eggs after breeding

[@UnisausS1]

@@s_wozzzie : OMG ! 500 ?!!!! That’s just fukin! NUTS ! Some human females die during labor just having 1 !! Where in the heck do the store up to 500 eggs ? The beetles themselves are small !! With that being said, I need to ask for some advise ! After a 2 week laying period, do you think it would be alright (knowing there’s ALOT of layers that laid) if I took the adult beetles & used them for food, controlling the population ?!!!

[@ramonlarson6806]

And how long to you let them breed before you harvest each time?

[@Alamodem]

Those are actually classifier screens. Often used in gold panning.

[@piximyn1910]

Where did you get your beetles? Did you have to order them on Ebay?

[@Submanca]

Just curious do you know what the advantages are to feeding the chickens mealworms vs store bought food besides cost?

[@autumnrohde367]

Submanca mealworms for chickens are more of a treat, but generally you can breed mealies for so much cheaper compared to constantly buying food. Generally a full cycle for mealworms takes about 6 months, producing well over 500 mealworms when you only started with 100.

[@tcotroneo]

Best mealworm vid I’ve watched.. thx. What is the optimal temperature range for mealworms?

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

tcotroneo glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the comment 😊

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

tcotroneo I keep them in my basement, which is around 70 degrees. But the mealies make their own heat, and will move closer together if they need warmth.

[@JustinAbroad]

My mealworms like the 65-75 degrees. I caught mine wild and I think they're pretty happy. They were outside in the 40 degree weather

[@Silvervalist]

Very good video! And thank you very much for the links!!!

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

Silvervalist you are very welcome!

[@katblevins8736]

I just recently purchased darling beetles and mealworms. Unfortunately the baby mealworms all looked dead. How do I know the difference between good baby worms and bad ones. How do I know the difference between good pupae and bad ones. Please advise. Thank you in advance.

[@SheafferSelect]

Great channel awesome job!

[@bbqwholehogs24]

Thanks for the info, but I have a question. You mention six sifters (minute 2:17) however the link is for 5 and there is no option for choosing a 6 set only a 9. They have an option to order a single sifter, however I have no idea which may be the missing size. Thanks!

[@sheabutta7508]

Hi Ginger. I've never posted a reply before, so don't know how to include a link. But, I had the same question. Scott, from Space Coast Mealworms, mentions a 6th tray, in one of his videos, labeled as such. Go onto Amazon, where you saw the 5 tray link, and right above the "5 pieces" set, it will say "1/30 inch". You'll have to purchase that one separately. Hope this helps!

[@suzsan07]

You wrote dates on the rubbermaids.. how long until you check them? Do the beetles not need a source of water? Do you use the frass as garden fertilizer or what do you do with it?

[@rknapier]

How much money do you spend on the feed for the beetles? Monthly bill? Looks like it costs a little more than it would be to buy the meal worms. Thank You

[@AutoNomades]

Hello WelcomeBack Maybe i havent searched enough, but i still dont understand why you abandoned the self sorting system (im was going to build one try to raise large quantity ..) now you make me doubting.. Thanks a lot for your work

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

AutoNomades as my number of mealies increased, it was hard to sort out all the different components in the lowest tub; which ended up being a mix of mealies, pupae and beetles. If you are raising them for a pet lizard, self sorting would work fine, because you won’t need a huge amount .

[@tinalehman4591]

What isn’t the 3 pan sizes u use smallest to the third larger one please and ty

[@suemcfarland8701]

You never identified the "NEW" special round sifter trays..Green Sifters trays...Where can they be obtained?? Where can we purchase them..Who makes them..Brand name??? I will be anguish for a reply...thankyou...

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

Search “green sifting trays” in Amazon.com

[@UnisausS1]

When you used the hot glue gun to glue the screen to the plastic tub lid, is yer glue gun a high heat glue or a low heat glue; cause when I glued the screen to the bottom of the breeding bin for the ‘self cleaning’ system, the glue let go by the next night !

[@pedclarkemobile]

Try scoring/ sanding the surface of the plastic to help the glue bond to the surface.

[@natethorpe8223]

Do you have holes for air in your grow bins

[@jodaddyswoodshop331]

Great video!

[@mitchellj.harwood1948]

awesome work! I have unsuccessfully tried to expand twice due to grain mite infestation. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. what helped you avoid that?

[@Reksal]

Microwave your oats before dropping them in.

[@mitchellj.harwood1948]

Lasker Saw I also froze them aswell

[@piximyn1910]

Where did you buy your sifters? Also, what do they charge?

[@lamebubblesflysohigh]

why bother with first 2 sifters is that third one is all you need to catch all of them? (first sifting for beetles)

[@Nibbles2point0]

lamebubblesflysohigh Maybe there are different sifters like that in case you want to sort out large and small beetles? But that is true, he could just use the one sifter. I guess he wants to test out the whole set 🤗

[@sheepdogsherlock1311]

He specifically stated it was for carrots and other food bits

[@thelittlefloofs23]

Those are some fluffy chicken

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

TinyTornadoTurtles they are silkies and frizzles.

[@patsyphillips89]

I'm sure you have already been told, they are Silkies. Sweet, sweet chickens.

[@lilywright9625]

what’s the point of the biggest sifter? it didn’t catch any beetles, so what’s its purpose?

[@katiecopley1147]

Do the eggs fall through with the frass?

[@ivanmahusay4080]

What are the hole sizes of the sreens that you are using thanks for this video.

[@jackpepperfarms3416]

Do you have a link for those sisters? They're awesome!

[@pedclarkemobile]

The sifting trays look very similar to horticultural substrate sifters, the metal looks fairly sharp- do the beetles get injured? Like lose legs?

[@rocknrollermann]

you have to be the 1st to ask out loud if the beetles are injured.

[@javierdomenech4370]

Nice where do I buy the sifters

[@taylorshomestead3934]

Where’s a good place to buy beetles and the sifters?

[@pureblood_straight_pride1853]

Where do you get those bucket sifters? All I can find are the bigger trays. I like these much better...

[@keyyonb11]

If you feed fruits and veggies do you have to use substrate? Is substrate a necessity for them?

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

keyyon bush Yes, the fruit and veggies are where they get their water from. The substrate is the food.

[@keyyonb11]

I don’t house mine in substrate I just feed fruits and veggies that contain the vitamins necessary for my reptiles to flourish. Along with a good calcium dusting. The vitamins definitely a passed on from worms to whatever is eating them 🤙🏿🧘🏿‍♂️

[@FieldFarmForest]

Have you ever dehydrated worms to feed out later?

[@FelipeTeixeirast]

Hi!! Great work.. have you already produce Black soldier fly?

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

Felipe Teixeira I tried it once, but I have found the mealworms to be easier. Thanks for watching!

[@MrSeadawg123]

thank you for the upload. How economical is it to buy the bran versus chicken food? Are you hoping to go with feeding the chickens 100% mealworm? Thank you in advance.

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

ALLAN BELL wheat bran is around $15 for a 50 lb bag. I don’t get traditional feed; I use whole wheat, whole oats, and field peas, soaked in water for a week so that they sprout/ferment. Then I add soy meal the day I feed it out. Haven’t gotten my mealworm production up high enough to make a direct comparison. I plan to continue feeding out the grain, but switch out the soy meal with the mealies; it is hard to find non-GMO soy :/

[@MrSeadawg123]

Thank you, sir! Will continue to follow your journey. This seems like an exciting project you have going.

[@shawndoe2834]

Not sure why the host didn't identify the green sifters right of the start for what they are. They are Gold Panning Screens and can be cheaply bought at Gold Panning Supply Stores or Big Box Sporting Stores as well.

[@zahrakhodabande194]

Thanks 👋👋👋