Homegrown Chicken Treats

Week two of 2023 has brought lots of different exciting things to the homestead. Some of these things are for organization, some for raising the boys and teaching them things, some for the garden, and some for the chickens. The big project for this week hands down has been getting a certain kind of treat for chickens set up so we can raise them. Welcome to our mealworm farm!

As you all know, I have not actually ever raised chickens before, but I have done a ton of research. This includes what conditions are best for raising chicks into productive chickens, how much to feed them, medicines to have on hand (just in case), and what to feed them. In addition to regular chicken feed, cracked corn, and oyster shells, we also have decided that mealworms would be an excellent source of protein for our chickens, especially come winter when they can't dig around and forage for bugs outside themselves as much.

Once we learned about how much a small bag of freeze-dried mealworms cost, I went on a Pinterest hunt. Were there ways to cut down on feed costs for our chickens? Did some places cost less with still high-quality mealworms than others? Or was there a way to reproduce mealworms that was easily replicable? And we found the answer to be yes! So, we started our mealworm farm journey.

Mealworm Lifecycle

Mealworms are often found in the pet store available for sale to feed various pets (birds, lizards, turtles, etc.), but they are actually only the larvae of a specific kind of beetle. In order to continue producing mealworms for the chickens as treats, I needed to learn what I could about the mealworm lifecycle. Mealworms, like all insects, start out as eggs. When they hatch, they're very small, but as they grow, they get bigger - no brainer. This is how pet stores get small, medium, and large mealworms; the older the worm, the bigger it is.

When the mealworms get to a certain size, they are ready to become pupae. Think of this kind of like a caterpillar's cocoon. When they are finished developing, the pupae become beetles, which can then mate and reproduce more eggs. And thus, the mealworm lifecycle continues. Mealworms take somewhere between 3 and 4 months to complete their lifecycle.

It is important to note that mealworms will continue this lifecycle and reproduce unless they are superworms. Superworms actually are genetically modified mealworms, and because they are genetically modified, they are infertile. You will not be able to start a mealworm farm with them.

How It's Made

The method of housing and raising mealworms for chickens that I found to be most easily replicable involves a drawer system (like I've used in my classroom in the past), wire mesh, tape, a substrate (we used oatmeal), and mealworms. I bought my mealworms online and made sure they were labeled large because the bigger they are, the closer they are to becoming beetles and reproducing more.

The first step was to build the drawer system as instructed. This system will eventually hold multiple drawers of similarly aged and sized mealworms for the birds to snack on. I used a drawer system often found in classrooms by teachers like this one:

Then, I took the top drawer out of one of the carts of drawers and cut out the bottom of it. I replaced it with 27-gauge wire securing it to the edges with tape and put it back in the top slot. Then, I filled the second drawer with a substrate. We used oatmeal, but I've read anything with the word "meal" would be fine as a substrate for bedding and for them to eat. I poured the mealworms in, and then, I added a couple apple slices on top. The apple slices are to give the mealworms moisture without causing too much moisture for mold to form. Apple slices and carrots are recommended. They will get all the moisture they need from these food sources and do not need additional water. Too much moisture will result in mold growth, and that is detrimental to the mealworms' health.

How It Works

This first batch of mealworms we do not have any beetles yet, but we are going to feed them until they grow into beetles. Once the mealworms go through the pupae stage and become beetles, I will move them to the mesh container. The beetles will live their happy little lives mostly on top of the substrate in the mesh container also eating apple slices and carrots and reproducing making sure to lay eggs. Now, these beetles in particular love digging to lay eggs, so when they're ready to lay them, they'll dig into the substrate (oatmeal) and lay eggs on the mesh. The beetles (hypothetically) should not be small enough to go through the mesh, but the eggs will fall down into the box below.

After a certain number of days, I will switch which container is directly below the beetle mesh-bottomed container and have the beetles lay more eggs in a new container. This will result in mealworms that are about the same age hatching and growing to be a chicken treat size. This also means that I should have a constant supply of new beetles because I will allow somewhere between 10-20% of the mealworms (roughly) to grow full-sized to continue the operation.

Because we have two different drawer carts with 20 drawers in them each (for a total of 40 drawers), I will be switching drawers out from under the beetle drawer every 3 to 4 days. Even though we do not yet have chickens, we are starting early so we can get a solid mealworm farm going before they arrive. This way, we will not need to purchase freeze-dried mealworms at any time for them. We will see how this goes and keep you updated on how the mealworm farm is holding up as we get the chickens and as the mealworms start reproducing.

Thanks for coming with us on this journey! Until next time!