My worm farm

[FishSchooler]

Many people know that I tried to chase nitecrawlers around (maybe there werent any cause it was winter?) and kinda failed. I couldnt get any for a worm farm.

My first attempt a long time ago with earth worms absolutely failed. It was too dry, and it was in an aquarium... :shock: When I emptied it, nothing but dirt, newpaper, a little bit of food scraps, and some dried up dead worms...

So I started another one, with more planning. I tried to get nitecrawlers, but failed. I ended up using 2 dozen from Dick's that I didn't use when steelheading. At a house I used to live in (we rent it out now), it was in the "country", or in hillsboro. The yard was huge and the land was fertile. I flipped over some stepping stones and boy, there was tons of huge worms, some earthworms and some nites.

So today, I upgraded my farm. Drilled some air holes and got a good lid. I opened the lid and started to dump the dirt out. Holy smokes! Those worms were HUGE! Absolutely HUGE! At least 4 of them were a foot long! Then there were lots of little baby nitecrawlers too. :dance:
The dirt I originally put in there was now mostly all loose/finer grains of dirt.
I could sell those foot longers, if only they were 5 dolla foot longs... :lol:

I might add some pics later. Im afraid they are so big that they might make some of us.......:lol:

 

[Dichrofisher]

When my grandpa was teaching me to collect worms we used a simple approach. An hour or two before dark he would turn the sprinkler on and then we ate dinner. When the night fell upon us we grabbed our flashlights and cottage cheese buckets and to the lawn we went. As good a memory as catching panfish by the bucket full the next day. Oh how I hate returning to school the following day! When getting a bite, my grandpa would announce, "Pike or Pickeral Carr" , Some Norwegian garbely gab from his childhood in Minnesota fishing for Pike. One of my favorite pictures of my grandma was her standing on a wood slab bridge with a long spear (she was in boots and dress) hunting for Pike!

 

[SNDSLGR]

So what did you do to make this one so successful? What do you use for food etc..?

 

[FishSchooler]

I dunno. The last one was glass and the top was basically a window screen. Maybe too much light got in and it just created a mini drought. This one had finer shreds of newpaper (we dont have a shredder so I have to do it one by one lol). And I fed it powdered egg shells, orange/banana peels, apple cores, and the occasional scrap of lettuce.

 

[Dichrofisher]

They probably drowned in the glass one, or got way too hot to live and breed. The humidity and lack of drainage would not be good for them. Worms breath through there skin.

 

[Hawk]

Brother Schooler, goto Google search worm farm, lots of info.

i use to make abox outta cut pieces of 3/4" plywood or 2"x4". You don't want them too wet or they will die. & not too dry either. Moderate temp.


Have Fun's.......................

 

[Troutski]

Shrimp oil...

Shrimp oil...

Try mixing shrimp oil in the right ratio with the water, one could have fat nightcrawlers that were already scented. I grow my own crawlers and when people stick there hands into the container for the first time, there is a gasp:shock: and they jerk there hands back - they wrap around your finger like a snake. Thank goodness they don't have teeth


Chuck

 

[Troutski]

Building supplies..

Building supplies..

Beware of pressure treated wood, and stained wood. I find the best all around material is used plywood, with plenty of breathing room from top to bottom; not to deep either. I like being able to flip it upside down and have another lid.

Chuck

 

[FishSchooler]

A few of mine are so big, Im not sure how to fish with them... :shock: Cutting them would be gross... Where does you get shrimp oil? Is it a fish scent or something for cooking? I have crayfish/shrimp scent, but I think that would like kill the worms. Online it said dont feed them oily/fatty stuff. Would oil count?

Oh yeah, I used a big plastic container that used to be a box filled with litter... recycling.

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Iv had some worms in a butter container lately and today i decided to upgrade. I dug a nice rectangular hole and put a old ice chest in it. for me the best time to get worms is at night after it rains, walk around your neighborhood and you'll find them. some times they're tough if there barely sticking out and you gotta pull it out with out tearing it in half.

fishschooler. what is their favorite food that u know of?

 

[Mike123]

Cool!

Did any of you watch the Dirty Jobs "worm growling" episode?
It was pretty cool! They stuck a stake in the ground and ground on it with a file looking thing and the vibration drove the worms up to the surface.