From measly beginnings to commercial sized mealworm farm...
When I first planned to order mealworms I only wanted to save money. I was tired of buying the freeze-dried kind for my chickens and began watching Youtube videos to learn how to raise my own. In February 2017 I purchased 5,000 worms from a huge distributor in California. I had researched the life cycles and best practices for rearing these worms, and I had devised a master plan - I was going to order 5,000 mealworms for three months in a row, thereby staggering the cycles of my worms. This way I would always have worms in various stages of life, and would never be without feeders to offer my chickens. So I ordered 5,000 in February, March, and April. I found these rainbow drawer towers at Sam's Club for about $25, and decided they would be perfect to use for
this system (which I also designed).
As the weeks and months went by, I joined more and more Facebook mealworm farming groups and had networked with several farmers across the country. The idea of going big was growing, which meant my farm needed to grow as well. I used my birthday money to build new towers for my worms. This new tower quadrupled my storage space by having larger and taller bins. The bins are basic $6 cement-mixing tubs from Home Depot, and the wood and screws cost about 40 bucks.
At this point I collect a new tray of eggs and produce 3000-5000 worms each week. Every worm I don't sell is simply left to pupate and turn into a beetle, which will be used to lay more eggs and grow my farm even larger. The ultimate goal is to sell enough to pay for a shed or a small rental space where I can expand even larger. The only thing I need is time!
