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From: mdobbins@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Michael Dobbins)
Newsgroups: rec.pets,rec.birds
Subject: Re: raising meal worms
Keywords: How do I?
Message-ID: <1204@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM>
Date: 10 May 91 13:23:17 GMT
References: <1991May8.135330.13185@tc.fluke.COM>
Organization: Unisys Corporation, Devon Engineering Offices
Lines: 33

In article <1991May8.135330.13185@tc.fluke.COM> halfdome@tc.fluke.COM (Alex Dorchak) writes:
>
>Does anyone out there know how to "raise" a mealworm (is that one word 

I raised a small quantity for feeding small lizards.  I used a cookie
tin with holes punched in the top to hold everything.  I put in corn
meal, oats and an assortment of other ground grains I happened to have
around the kitchen.  I put in a couple cut pieces of potato (skins,
peelings, etc) to provide a moisture source.  Replace/add more when
they dry out.  I added mealworms purchased from the local pet shop. 
These mealworms eventually matured into beetles, laid eggs, thus
producing more mealworms.  I would periodically harvest part of the
population and kept the culture going for several years.  I didn't pay
too much attention to the culture, and I don't remember exact times for
how long it took to produce the next generation of mealworms. It seems
like it took a couple of weeks (a month?) for a mealworm to mature into
a beetle.  

I am not sure how well what I did will scale up to the volume you need
to feed large birds, but the principles will be the same and mealworms
are easy grow. You will have a ramp-up time to get production to the
level you need.  I have no idea as to how much space you should allocate
to growing mealworms.

>"mealworm" or two "meal worm"?)? As previously mentioned, these birds are big

Mealworm is the creature, meal worm is when it is eaten :-)

>and will need a large supply of large sized worms. Does anyone else have any
>better ideas?

Have you tried earthworms?  Either instead of mealworms or for variety
in the diet.