Erin's Journal- Turning Frugal

[<ErinElizabeth>]

I have GOT to get me some of those worms! Please keep us posted on how they're doing and how quickly the reproduce.

Will do.

 

[Denim Deb]

Did some research on them and found out that some of them are giving a hormone to keep them at the larval stage!

 

[Dawn419]

Very cool on the mealworms, Erin!

I'd love to get into raising them but just don't have enough room in the camper. I'll get there, one of these days!

 

[<ErinElizabeth>]

Many of the meal worms have shed their skin (which the others are eating) and have turned into these weird looking things that is the stage between larvae and beetle. Here is a picture of them (the 2 light colored ones)

At first I thought they were dying, but on closer inspection the things that I thought were dead bodies are just skins.

 

[Denim Deb]

They'll shed their skins many times between hatching out of their eggs and becoming a pupae. They'll molt between 9 and 20 times, and each stage is referred to as an instar.

 

[<ErinElizabeth>]

They'll shed their skins many times between hatching out of their eggs and becoming a pupae. They'll molt between 9 and 20 times, and each stage is referred to as an instar.

That's pretty neat. It's good to know that this is normal.

 

[Denim Deb]

They'll shed their skins many times between hatching out of their eggs and becoming a pupae. They'll molt between 9 and 20 times, and each stage is referred to as an instar.

That's pretty neat. It's good to know that this is normal.

Yep, completely normal. Since they have an exoskeleton they need to molt in order to grow. Otherwise, they'd never get any bigger.

 

[<ErinElizabeth>]

I fed the chickens their first meal worms this morning. They loved them! The chickens are really laying well now that it's cooled off. I'm making enough off them to treat myself to a few extras here and there.
2 dozen eggs from the past week waiting to be sold at $2 a dozen:

 

[Mickey328]

Pretty eggs! Look just like mine Wow, the going rate there is less than here...I sell mine for $3/dz but I've seen them listed for as much as $4.50, which I think is ridiculous. Even in the grocery store, the "free range organic" (yeah, right) eggs go for about $3 a dozen so I guess that may be why folks will pay so much more for the real thing.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Congrats on being a successful worm farmer! Pretty obvious the 'gals' love 'em!