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Thread: Cheap worm food

  1. #1
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    Default Cheap worm food


    Starting to use ground up bird seed. Cheaper than worm chow. ~$6 for 20lbs. I'm adding corn meal to the mix - to bump up the corn content.


    Also feeding mash from juicing, coffee grounds, & ground up egg shells.

  2. #2
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    Not a bad idea. I started using chicken egg layer crumbles- 50 pound bag bought at my local farmers co-op is only 12.99. It is loaded with corn and calcium, the chickens lay lots of eggs on this stuff and so do the worms.
    Commercial worm farmer, but presently sold out until further notice.

  3. #3
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    My buddy that fishes Lake Havasu swears by the chicken feed and his European crawlers are massive. I'm doing sort of a vermi-composting for the worm castings. Really like the African crawlers - they seem to do everything the fastest.... Don't think I'll ever buy worm feed again.
    Likes skeeterbit LIKED above post

  4. #4
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    I use what my feed store calls "Egg Laying Mash". Works a treat and is cheap.

    Tom

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    Do you grind it up?

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    My wigglers/europeans are in a composting bin. They get any fruit/veggie scraps along with powdered eggshells (nuke the egg shells to kill the salmonella, then grind in a spice grinder) . They'll eat anything you put in there, but they REALLY love cantaloupe! lay it on top with the skin side up and they'll have it clean to the skin in one night. Pumpkins too. Hit up your grocery stores and ask the produce guy if he has any rotten melons in the back. They usually do, and he'll tell you to take all you want.

    I feed my canadian nightcrawlers just regular worm food, usually frabill fat and sassy... they don't live long enough to reproduce or grow.. Just need to keep them plump until they go for a swim.
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  7. #7
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    nl - I use an old dedicated coffee grinder to grind the stuff up - some of the rye seeds don't grind up well enough. I add eggshells and coffee grounds to in the grinder with the mix. If you're running more than a couple of flats - better of with the chicken mash - too much work with the grinder.

  8. #8
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    I must be doing something wrong had European night crawler for over a year now they not much bigger than the red wrigglers I did have

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by no luck View Post
    I must be doing something wrong had European night crawler for over a year now they not much bigger than the red wrigglers I did have
    Are you sure you didn't get wigglers by mistake? Protein will grow them.

    Heres a recipe i have saved, but havent needed it yet because i have outdoor bins and they feed on a lot of natural stuff that grows them. If you have indoor bins or bins not open for other organisms to get in, you need to supplement them to get them to grow huge.

    5 parts chicken layer pellets or chick starter 2 parts wheat or rice bran 2 parts alfalfa pellets 1 part whole wheat flour 1 part agricultural lime 1 part powdered milk

  10. #10
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    They stay small if they're crowded and/or the PH is acidic.

    Check out these 2 sites;
    YouTube

    YouTube

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