Could this work for raising worms??

Reading this made me think of my grandfathers "Worm Bed". He raised cows, and behind the barn he had an old cast iron tub up against the side of the barn with a piece of plywood for a lid. He would some times ad some dried cow patties and old leaves in there. He always had plenty of worms to carry me fishing with. I have not thought of a worm bed in 35 years or more. Reading all this makes me want to start one to work with my two girls. Thanks to all for bringing up good memories, that's why I love coming to this site.

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Originally Posted by Bobo Greybeard

One last question, How many worms is that bin safe to use for? Thanks, Bobo

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The worms will stop laying more eggs when the container and available food will not support more. I would guess your bin would support at least a thousand worms and maybe two thousand.

A few new twists I've not heard of, but what the hay........if it works, great. When I was in the business, inks used for printing newspapers were toxic to
worms. Maybe that has changed and thats good. Still wouldn't use colored inks. As I stated in the beginning of this thread, the cardboard (corrugated with
glue) should be soaked into a mulch form prior to feeding, for best results. Sounds like everyone is having success and as long as your getting enough worms
to keep you fishing, that is what its all about. It is hard in the beginning to not over feed worms. For those involved with larger worm beds, may I suggest
you go one week without feeding and turn your beds to add oxygen. We used pitch forks to turn our bedding and it helped prevent souring of the bedding.
We found out the way to prevent souring of the bedding was to cut back on the amount you were feeding. When your in the business of selling worms, you
try different methods to increase you worm yield. When your raising them for your personal use, the routine is constant. Tight lines guys.
:fish

Thank you for the replys guys. This is our first go around at it so hopefully it all works out. Thanks, Bobo

Cleaned out the bin of worm poo. Hated to get rid of all those eggs that were in the poo. All in all I'd say my 60 worms is now about 1 1/2 pounds of worms and I've gone fishing several times. To RetiredRR, thanks for all the info you provided. Also the ink in B&W newspaper is a soybean oil base now. I might have previously said this but do not put KY shine mash in your bin. Drunk worms are not happy worms. I thought I was going to lose the bin but plenty of airflow and the alcohol evaporated out after a week or so. The worms were all trying to escape if I put the lid on. I guess oxygen level was to low.

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Also what about dry dog food in a worm bin??

I bought some bait worms yesterday and actually had second thoughts about them when I bought them. We used a few of them, then brought them home and dumped them in the worm bin last night. When I put them in I was a little concerned as they didn't look just right. Well this afternoon about 20 minutes ago we looked in the worm bin and all of the ones that I put in yesterday were dead and the bin itself smelled really bad. My question is this. Do I need to try and remove the dead worms or just leave them in there to decompose. Also do I need to completely empty the bin and start over due to the death of these 12 to 18 worms. Sorry for the questions, I just want to make sure we are doing this correctly. Bobo

I'd try to get the dead worms out if they are on top. They will stink for weeks. Is your bin inside or outside? If inside put a screen over the top (got mine at Wally World screen window type). and a small light on top of the screen. The light will keep the worms underground and the screen will allow more air to circulate. Worms do not really "Eat" meat or plant matter. They eat the microbes that are decomposing the plant matter. Sounds like the last worms might have gotten hot in the little container and were going limp.

Yep, worms are 100% protein and water. Protein will stink and dry up over time, but it is best to take a pair of tweezers and pick them out. Good advice ctf58.
Nothing worse than a limp worm.
:scratchhead

Good info guys some of this stuff needs to be stickied