how do I "farm" worms?
I have a few earth snakes and want to start raising worms form them to eat instead of going out and digging in the yard and looking form them, where they could also be contaminated with pesticides. How do I start? What type of container is good for raising worms in? What kind stuff do I give them to eat? Are worms male and female or asexual? At what size or age do you think they are most delicious to their predators? I know little and need to know everything.
Raising worms can be done in your home but do not use earthworms. They are not condusive to bins and will die out. You need red wigglers. I use an 18 gallon container, box shaped that you can get from Wal Mart of K Mart, etc. I put drill holes all along the sides, toward the top of the bin to allow the worms and bin to breathe. Purchase the worms and put in the container with the dirt they came in but have the container full of bedding. I use shredded newspaper. Fill the bin about halfway full with shredded newspaper. Allow the worms to adjust before feeding. Make sure the worms are at a temperature of between 55 to 80 degrees. Dampen the newspaper but do not make the envirnoment soggy. Begin feeding after about a week with organic table scraps from veggie preparation such as carrot shavings, celery tops, potato skins, etc. Do not give them meat. As your worms begin to multiply, they will consume their newspaper bedding and the food you give them. When adding the food, lift the bedding and put the food under the bedding. Check the location to determine how long they are taking to consume food. Add food as the food in the container disappears. Make certain that you buy worms that will live in a bin. Again, your outdoor earthworms will not live in a bin.
First, it's worm ranching, not farming. You'll need to hire a worm wrangler and a couple competent wormhands. You're probably going to want to stay away from 'free range worms' for a while unless you have a trained worm dog to keep them under control… nothing worse than a worm stampede.
Here's a link that will work with just about any type worm:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2075_raise-fishing-worms.html
Being somewhat of a fisherman, I have seen this book in stores, it's pretty detailed:
http://www.wormman.com/pd_how.cfm
References :
Head 'em up, move 'em out, Wormhide!
Raising worms can be done in your home but do not use earthworms. They are not condusive to bins and will die out. You need red wigglers. I use an 18 gallon container, box shaped that you can get from Wal Mart of K Mart, etc. I put drill holes all along the sides, toward the top of the bin to allow the worms and bin to breathe. Purchase the worms and put in the container with the dirt they came in but have the container full of bedding. I use shredded newspaper. Fill the bin about halfway full with shredded newspaper. Allow the worms to adjust before feeding. Make sure the worms are at a temperature of between 55 to 80 degrees. Dampen the newspaper but do not make the envirnoment soggy. Begin feeding after about a week with organic table scraps from veggie preparation such as carrot shavings, celery tops, potato skins, etc. Do not give them meat. As your worms begin to multiply, they will consume their newspaper bedding and the food you give them. When adding the food, lift the bedding and put the food under the bedding. Check the location to determine how long they are taking to consume food. Add food as the food in the container disappears. Make certain that you buy worms that will live in a bin. Again, your outdoor earthworms will not live in a bin.
References :
Master Gardener Have worm bin
I was given some red wigglers once. I kept them in a 5 gallon pail under the kitchen sink. I put a few inches of topsoil in the pail then added vegetable scraps as they needed it. In the summer I put them outside in the compost bin ( their excrement has alot of nitrogen which is excellent for the veggie garden). forgot to take some in for the winter & they all froze to death. dang it.
References :