Help Raising Worms

[dugger]

Can anyone tell me what to feed earthworms ? you know I buy them and don't use all of them and they die! so Im going to make them a nice little place to live and breed my own and cut out the high priced worm guys remember Im in the desert so I can't just grab a shovel and dig my own like I did as kid ,any type of soil I should use
like potting soil or that black gold potting soil,,,, thanks Dugger

[cwd]

I have a friend who use to own a worm farm.
he raised red worms and earth worms. He sold them to all of the fishing shops around here for
years.
he raised them in cow manure. he had mounds of it about 2 1/2 foot high and 40 foot long. he said they get
everything they needed from the manure,the only maintance was keeping the mounds moist.
our weather here is probaly much the same as yours The past week we were in the 103 to 109 degrees
range, he said he hardly ever had a worm bed go bad because of the heat. his problems came during the winter, lots of rain would cause the worms to wash out of the beds and drown.

I have a couple of homemade boxes 10 inches wide by 3 foot long. I have red worms in them I raise rabbits
so I use the manure from them,I do mix a little dirt with it,for some reason it becomes rock hard with out
the dirt. I also raise meal worms. I just keep them in coffee cans with brand flakes, I cut an apple
into 4 peices and feed this to the meal worms once a week. the meal worms will grow into beetels
and will lay eggs, this will keep your meal worm farm producing. as long as you feed them and keep plenty of brand flakes in the can. you will have meal worms for years to come. I sell the extra meal worms to a local pet store.

[bass or bass?]

You can also buy worm bedding from BPS, Cabela's, and perhaps even Wal-Mart. Earth worms also like and receive nutrients from coffee grounds added to their soil.

[dugger]

Nice and thanks for the tip on the meal worms use those too , do you think horse poo would be to hot for the earth worms??? wished i had some rabbits!! rabbit and gravey yum yum!!

[big roe]

I use to bury a 5 gallon bucket with store bought bedding about 6 inches below ground level put wet newspapers flat on top of the worm bedding. Then a piece of plywood at ground level perferably in the shade.Started off with bait shop crawlers never ran out saw many baby crawlers over the summers,they work well too. I would give them some coffee grounds and alittle sugar ,they seemed to eat the newspapers also. P.s. never ran out but had to restart every summer.

Phylum Annelida (segmented worms)
G/s Terrestus lumbricus (common earthworm)

Little buggers have 5 Pairs of hearts, and both male and female reproductive parts in each worm! They still have to find a mate, although that should be simple enough since any other worm will do. They are egg layers. They breathe air through their moist skin, and eat the organic matter (decaying leaves, rotten wood, etc.) in soil. Their bottom side is covered with hundreds of little "bristle" called setae, to give them traction burrowing through the ground.

Things I've learned! Use commercial bedding- my favorite has always been Buss Bedding- it's cheap enough, and made from finely shredded newspaper which the worms eat! No need to add food. As a matter of fact- I heard adding coffee grounds, etc. as food can actually poison the worms. Also heard (or read) that plain old dirt is NOT good enough to grow a healthy herd of wigglers! Follow directions on bag for adding water, it should all be damp, but not dripping water. And BTW, our tap water contains a lot of chlorine (and who knows what else from Lake Erie!), so moisten with rainwater or lake water if possible.
Containers- Do not use styrofoam- doesn't breath and allow air into the bedding! use commercial pressed fiberboard containers, they come in all sizes. Keep them cool, out of the sun. I'm always kept my in the basement. I've heard of burying the containers then covering with plywood, but around here we have so many moles, voles, etc- they soon dig their way right into any container and eat up the crop. Birds, coons, and snakes love them too.
Don't mix the worms up in the bedding, they need to dig their own holes. When harvesting a batch, take any unused worms and add them to the top of the container. Any that don't find their way down into the bedding are sick or hurt and remove immediately! Sprinkle water on top and don't try to mix it up with the bedding! You smother the little guys by burying them.
Back when I was a kid and could still bend over and touch the ground, we always picked our own crawlers. We'd get a surplus on a good wet night, and sell the extra's to a local worm rancher. For a penny apiece- then he resold them for 35 cents a dozen. NOW-- Nightcrawlers are costing 20 cents APIECE around here! Let's see- how many crawlers in a pound? Maybe 300? 300 X .20 each = $6.00 a pound for the little buggers! Heck, I can get steak on sale for that much!
Have fun, good luck ranching! You should have a big ten gallon hat and some chaps for when you go rounding up a few head to take fishing! Best------ JoeW

[dugger]

You Da Man Joe!!!! Thanks
dugger

[tholmes]

To add to what JoeW said, I've found that you can use chlorinated tap water IF you let it set in an open container for a couple of days prior to using it.

Tom

[big roe]

I forgot to mention you need to drill drain holes in bottom of 5 gallon bucket,Joe Buss bedding is what I used also good stuff I could not remember the name.

Hi Roe--- yea, I had to run down to the basement and check the name. And also, dugger, don't pack it into the container, leave it loose! Worms need air! Best--- JoeW