Mealworms: How to Keep and Breed Them for Your Chickens

If you keep chickens and want to provide them with a delicious, protein-rich treat without spending a fortune, breeding and raising your own mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) is an excellent option. Chickens absolutely love mealworms, and once you have the right environment set up, mealworm keeping is surprisingly easy and low maintenance, requiring only simple kitchen scraps and vegetables for feed.

Feeding a handful of mealworms daily to your flock supports their immune system, helps them stay healthy, and boosts egg production and molting thanks to the high protein content.

What You Will Need to Start

You'll need a secure container that mealworms cannot escape from. An old 10-gallon glass or plastic fish tank works perfectly, offering ample surface area over depth, which is ideal. Avoid covering the tank with a solid lid to ensure good airflow, but adding a wire mesh cover will prevent pests from entering or mealworms escaping.

For those interested in purchasing mealworms to start your colony, buying from reputable breeders or suppliers online is recommended to ensure healthy stock.

Setting Up the Mealworm Habitat

Begin by spreading an even layer about 3 inches deep of wheat bran or a similar substrate like cornmeal, oatmeal, or mealworm bedding across the tank bottom. This acts as both bedding and food for the larvae.

You can also add some chicken feed like layers mash, but make sure it doesn’t contain diatomaceous earth, as that can harm your mealworms. Freezing grains before use is a good practice to eliminate unwanted pests.

Introducing Live Mealworms

Once the substrate is ready, introduce live mealworms into the tank. A 10-gallon tank can comfortably house about 1000 larvae, but starting with more can help establish a faster-growing colony.

Feeding Your Mealworms Properly

Fresh vegetables and kitchen scraps are vital for keeping your mealworms healthy and multiplying. Recommended foods include:

• Potatoes
• Apples and apple peel
• Other fruits and vegetable scraps

Feed as often as possible for faster breeding, but avoid excess moisture — keeping the substrate dry is crucial. Too much moisture encourages fungal growth and mite infestations, which can decimate your colony.

Be cautious with vegetables high in water content and remove any uneaten scraps promptly to prevent rotting.

Ideal Environment

Keep the tank in a warm, dry place away from direct sunlight. A temperature around 25°C (78°F) encourages rapid growth and breeding. If the environment gets too cold, development slows, and the colony may perish.

Maintaining the Habitat

Top up the wheat bran substrate as it gets thin by pouring more over the existing bedding a few times a year. Regularly remove old vegetables to maintain cleanliness, but there is no need to disturb the bran frequently.

Life Cycle and Harvesting

Understand the mealworm's life cycle to maintain your colony successfully. The beetles lay eggs that hatch within weeks, larvae grow for 8-10 weeks, then pupate before maturing into beetles that continue the cycle.

Wait about 2 months after starting your colony before harvesting the larvae to feed your chickens. Only feed the larvae; leave beetles and pupae in the habitat to ensure continuous breeding.

Collecting Mealworms for Feeding

Feeding time is the perfect moment to collect mealworms. Place a piece of potato face down in the substrate for around 10 minutes — the larvae will gather and feed on it. Simply lift the potato and shake off the larvae into a container for your chickens.

Storing Extras

If you have excess mealworms, store them in fresh wheat bran in a cool, dry place to feed your flock later. When handling, wear gloves and a mask as some people may have allergic reactions, even though mealworms are harmless.

Benefits of Raising Your Own Mealworms

Raising mealworms is a cost-effective, sustainable way to boost your chickens' diet with natural, protein-packed treats. This supplement supports immune health, encourages natural foraging behaviour, and can improve egg quality and quantity.

By following these steps, you'll enjoy a thriving mealworm colony that keeps your chickens happy and healthy year-round.

For supplies and to find reputable breeders online, consider visiting poultry for sale to source chickens and related products responsibly.