Quail and Composting worms

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by Sezmo, Sep 5, 2011.

  1. Sezmo

    Sezmo Junior Member

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    I can't find any worms for our worm farm... Well there are plenty in the ground but i understand that the red ones are better for composting. Nobody anywhere knows where I could get some from, except lots of people saying probably bunnings.
    Anywhere else to try other than buying them online?

    Quail: has anyone got them? I'm undecided on whether to buy adults, or get eggs and incubate them - im eventually going to need the incubator anyway, so it wouldn't be wasted money to incubate and hatch out the first ones. Anyone got any suggestions or advice?
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Where are you Sezmo? Bunnings and garden shops do sell boxes of worms. Or you start peeking over the fences around the neighbourhood looking for worm farms and ask if you can have some. (Don't get arrested!) Some schools may have worm farms, or a community garden. That way you can get them for free.

    I have a friend with quail but haven't kept them myself. I think your question is like the old chicken or the egg conundrum! It will depend on your energy and enthusiasm. You'll get dead birds faster if you raise them from eggs, so if you need to feel a bit more confident before facing your first run in with mortality then adults may be the way to go.
     
  3. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I have 2 wild flocks on my property of them. I see babies running around every spring. Despite them, voles, snakes, frogs, and other things wild running amok here I still see plenty of worms around my worm towers and the soil level has increased 1 inch this year over the .5" of top soil I had last year.

    I am unfamiliar with raising them.. only watching them wild running amok here and there.
     
  4. Sezmo

    Sezmo Junior Member

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    Can I bring some traps around??? :-D
    I'm in western Vic near Ballarat.
    Might be a bit too far to bring live quail home...

    Is it illegal to trap wild quail and take them home? :think:

    If I can't find any worms for wormfarm1.0 anywhere else I guess I'll have to buy bunnings worms. I like to avoid buying there unless I have to. And when I do my stepdad gets a staff discount so I send him an order and he brings it all down with him. I'd prefer to get local worms though and not give my money to bunnings unless I have no other option.
     
  5. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    I bought some worms from a nursery once. They keeled over at the drop of a hat. I went to a friends place and took a handful from her compost - they have gone forth and multiplied and spread across this land.
     
  6. Sezmo

    Sezmo Junior Member

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    Hm, perhaps I should just extract some from my garden to get started with then, and add some 'proper' compost worms when I can find them?
     
  7. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Senior Member

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    If you have patience set up a compost heap and the worms will come to you for free.

    Re quails I'm massively interested have been doing a little research, seems a caged greenhouse and quails would be a good set up for bug control,manure, meat and eggs.
    Make the beds wicking beds and/or aquaponics with worms and its win win
    If you are going to eat the quails and not just the eggs you will need access to an incubator or a bird breeder ,if you don't want to turn eggs constantly you will need an auto turning one.
    Check this out
    https://www.backyardfarming.com.au/phpbbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=569
     
  8. dianne

    dianne Junior Member

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    I went through "Worms 'R' plenty" www.kookaburrawormfarms.com.au

    they were great, wonderful fast delivery (free, maybe changed it was a while ago) and really good prices. have a look.
     
  9. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Old thread I know. With buying worms in the boxes from the hardware stores is that they could be in the boxes for many months at a time. Some are just in damp newspaper and no food. Think about it, would you buy a sick dog and try to breed with it. Same with the worms. You can get worms delivered in one or two days in most cases. The worms are healthy and in some cases come with plenty of eggs in the bedding which will all hatch within a couple of weeks. 4 to 10 worms in each egg your 2,000 worm order can be 5,000 in a couple of months. Now with the boxed ones your 1,000 worms are still recovering or dead. I lost the first lot I bought in the box.

    George Mingin at Worms "R" Plenty seems like a nice bloke. Had a chat on the phone and a couple of emails. He gave me a few pointers too. So if you are in the market for Worms buy from people like George or me and you will get good healthy worms. Also before you buy a commercially made stackable worm farm for a $100 or more check out my website under the heading of " Information" I have an article I wrote about them. One of my customers in Adelaide thought she was doing the right thing and bought one back in October. She baked them on the hot days down there. They are a sweat box and can kill worms.
     
  10. labradel

    labradel Junior Member

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    stubble quail are native and therfore a permit to keep them is required the black 3 tier worm farms do work very well when sighted corectly and maintained i only stopped using them when i had 5 complete units and then decided that feeding 5 units was too labour intensive compared to a single larger unit
     
  11. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    I used to sell my worms at a local market and about 7 out of 10 people said their worms died in the stackable farms. I got my hands on one to see what was the problem with them. I only used it for a few weeks and then went back to my open style of bins. It was under my house out of the sun but I found it remained far too wet. I don't think the air flow over the top of the bed is sufficeint and in nature worms are not arerated from the bottom but the surface only.

    I also think the air vents are way too smal but this can stop unwanted bugs so would please some people. Worm Farms are made up of many types of bugs which all help the decomposition process and are essential in a healthy farm. The tap on the bottom really is just a gimmick but essential if the bedding is too wet. Worm farms shouldn't drip moisture. The moisture is really only water sweated out of the bedding and picks up some nuitrients along the way. Worm urine wouldnt really add to the water draining out. Therefore it isn't really Worm Tea or Worm Pee, still if diluted is useful to feed your plants.

    I don't understand why you would want 5 worm farms unless you were selling worms or using a huge amount of worm castings. Did any collapse from the weight? A school teacher mentioned to me that she had seen it happen and if not on level ground I can see it happening.

    Stackable farms are more of a maketing gimmick, and a clever one because this is what people now expect. You would never see a worm breeder using one to raise worms but just open beds.
     
  12. labradel

    labradel Junior Member

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    i purchased only one and scored the others i found the worked well and made for easy casting removal, i use the castings in my potting mix mixed in a cement mixer i like the system
     
  13. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    I got my Can of Worms free as a friend had moved to England and no longer needed it. Those people who they worked well for thought they were great but I suspect those who didn't like you said they need to be sited properly haven't put it in the right place. I would also bet they just used the coir block as bedding then started adding food. Once the bedding was gone the worms would stop breeding and then die out. I wrote an article on my website trying to inform people how to use them. It is disappointing to spend good money only to have the whole thing not work as you wanted it to. Then people lose interest. Every home should have a worm farm.

    I am doing my best to sell as many worms as I can and encourage people to compost. I stopped the markets as it cost too much for little or no reward. Now I just post and have local pick up. This year to date I have done more sales this way than 10 months of markets.
     
  14. labradel

    labradel Junior Member

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    brian like you i do believe that worms are just fantastic they are apart from labrador dogs my favorite animals oh ducks may beat the worms
     
  15. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    :):)
     

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