Oh, I forgot re. bedding. Save everything that says 100% cotton from underwear to bed linen. Obviously, remove the elastic waistband from underwear, briefs etc. since they're NOT cotton. These serve much better as top cover than newspaper sheets since these are breathable, Soak them before use and wring out water as much as you can. The remaining liquid/moisture will not go down into the bin (IMHO) since the fabric will hold it, so as not to drown the bin. Use a hand sprinkler from time to time to re-moisture this sheet.

As per my observation, worms like to hang out in the folds, and leave cocoons there. When you see this piece is crumbling, you can bury it an get a new piece of old 100% cotton of whatever.

I've never heard of Layena before, is it some kind of dog or cat food? Dry or wet? I would agree with what Otis is suggesting.....don't worry too much about the feeding just yet, let them get accustomed to their new home.

Don't know about the Layena ,but I know that when I added some stale dry dog-food to one of my bins last year, the worms did not seem to be interested. It heated up a lot and even after cooling back down the worms were slow to return. Haven't tried it again since. Just go slow and make lots of observations......you'll soon get a feel for it.

Harry

Harry - thanks for the advice. Regarding Layena - It is Chicken Layer Crumbles made by Purina, that was recommended (in small quantities) on numerous online sites .. On another topic.. Vancouver and BC are high on my list of "places to visit"...

Ub, although today was beautifully sunny albeit cool it,s best to visit in the summer or fall. July and August are quite dry with lots of sun (about 16 hrs/day) with high temps around 25-30C.

Could you site some of your references to feeding Layena to redworms 'cause I'm always looking for new information on vermicomposting and I've never read anything about it.

Harry

Harry - I will be glad too. I'm at work and I will try this evening to find them. Most were from sights that sell crawlers .. I will get back to you !!

Purina actually does make an "earthworm chow" product - or at least, they used to. I'm not finding it available now with a quick Google. Perhaps it has been discontinued. Worms generally do like corn meal so I imagine that feeds with corn in them would work well, as long as they are finely powdered enough to get in the worms' mouths.

You may find more helpful information on raising worms in the Vermiculture Manual at this link: http://www.organicagcentre.ca/DOCs/Vermiculture_FarmersManual_gm.pdf

Parsley - Thanks for info and link. I probably initially made a mistake and I did not crush / powder the Layena crumbles. I subsequently removed the "fermenting" Layena. Still not sure how to determine when to add "food". The bedding does include composted cow manure. Besides "food" disappearing in bin, is there other indications that "food" needs to be added ?? Many Thanks !! Fubar

I can get Purina Earthworm at local feed store. Staying with Layena for now. Trying to get my hands on ( no pun intended ) Poultry Manure. Sounds much better than Cow sh_t. LMAO. Your link highly recommends Poultry over cow. ( 5 or 10 % mixture )..

Be careful using Poultry Manure. I'm not writing from experience but I believe what was said. It is supposed to be "HOT". So, because I'm not desperate for worm food, have enough of the "safe" ones, I won't even go there. If you feel the need to use poultry manure, just add to the medium mix for planting rather than the risk of killing worms. Just MHO.

Otis - Thank you for the comment. I will continue with composted Cow Manure - seems to be working with, crawlers seem happy.

Any thoughts regarding my prior question - "Still not sure how to determine when to add "food". The bedding does include composted cow manure. Besides "food" disappearing in bin, is there other indications that "food" needs to be added ?? Many Thanks !! Fubar"

""Besides "food" disappearing in bin, is there other indications that "food" needs to be added ?"" HUH?

If there's still food there, to me it means no need to add food. You keep adding food before the old batch is gone will definitely result in overfeeding and that is most probably inviting problems and what I know from experience, increase mite population, also small little black, dark brown bugs that somehow had gotten inside my bins. More food doesn't mean putting fire under the worms to hurry up with "eating" and pooping. You can't rush them and the process. You just have to sit back and chill. And when the system in your worm bin collapse, it will start to smell like a garbage can. And when you say "food", my understanding is kitchen scraps and others like that.

However, when you mean manure, that is a different matter. It depends what manure, horse or cow or goat or rabbit or what, unless you mean they're old manure, have been sitting a long time, maybe 6 months or so in the open to leach urine contents? Mind you, I do not have access to any manure and I do not buy them to feed to the worms. What I am going to mention, is a collection of what I have read from other people's experience, logic and imagination (the last 2, also my own). I think with old manure, you can safely add as much as you want because they live in manure. Again, you cannot rush them to convert all that into black gold. Are you aiming for manure with some worm castings in it or worm castings with least possible manure in your "worm compost". It will be translated something like this: Are you having coffee with milk or milk with coffee?

chuckiectoo (a very long time poster I haven't heard of lately) has a saying about patience. Hey CB2, what was it you said?

Otis - I am currently using composted cow manure - bought from Home Depot - Not "black cow" another similar but less $$ brand . Regarding my worm bin, I am involved in vermiculture primarily for bait worms and secondarily, for black gold for my plants and garden. Thanks for any and all advice !!

fubar: If you are geared more toward vermiculture rather than vermicomposting, you might want to try something else regarding feed but you still have to exercise patience or it will go "south" pretty fast.

I'd like to remind you the difference of digestive systems between cows and horses, and how it effect the quality of their manure for worms. I am not a scientist, and left school a long long time ago, so I'll just use the primitive way to describe what I mean/remember. Cows etc. have the multi chamber system as horses et al just one and therefore less efficient compared to cows'. So what I read and remember, horse manure hold more nutrients for worms.

OR, if you have no access to farms and vermicompost is secondary, you might want to start mixing milled grains to the
feed. Be VERY careful in the beginning until you know how much they can take.
Grain tends to get sour pretty fast and keep an eye on the temp. Don’t forget
to have powdered egg-shells handy

Otis - Thanks ! I may be able to get horse manure, should I worry about "de-worming agents" given to horses or any other risks?? I use Layena - Purina's Chicken Layer Mash (very sparingly), would this fill the bill for "milled grains" ?? Am I correct that the egg-shells are more for pH control versus "grit" for gizzards ??

FUBAR: I have read somewhere that after a certain time the deworming stuff disintegrate. You will have to google for exact info but I imagine if you can get hold of several months old horse manure, it would be safe. Also lots of urine will have leached out too if it is just piled somewhere in the open, rained on etc. I'd say that Layer Mash would qualify as grain product.

It's a split opinion re. the use of egg-shells for grit. I use egg-shells more to battle acidity than using as grit. If they do need grit, well then, it's there.

Do you feed them any "kitchen" scraps at all?

A limited amount of carrot peels, coffee grounds (I'm aware of acidity potential) and vegetable pulp from juicing. Any advice about "best scraps" would be great !! I worry about acidity from citrus and if the "particle size" of my scraps are small enough !!

FUBAR: I do not use any citrus unless they are really really rotted. The "no good" stuff would have broken down then. I've enough of the good stuff. My worms don't seem to like UCG and it only increased mite population. Besides, the colour make it hard to tell. IMO, juicing pulp is the best "scraps" because they are already small and most of the liquid has been removed. If you pre-rot it, there's still plenty of liquid that I usually drain. Pre-rotting cuts down the "waiting" time in the bin since it's already "worm ready". If I remember correctly from your other post, you seem "impatient". Try pre-rotting the scraps before you feed it to the worms and let us know how that goes. Some of my pre-rotting buckets are several months old. My worms just can't keep up with the pulp supply.

Otis - Is "UCG" referring to coffee grounds ??

I am being patient, I am just trying to not make mistakes early on in the game, losing my "population"

Thanks Again !!

My guidelines - that are more important for a new bin, once a bin is well established and you have the feel for things, you can play by feel - are below. These are more about avoiding problems - keeping the worms alive - than about optimising for either production (food throughput) or reproduction.

-You can't have too much bedding; you very easily can have too much food, so go easy on feeding them. Ripped and shredded cardboard and paper are good. Especially a layer at the top of the bin - several inches thick.

-Too wet is worse than a bit too dry, although it should never be dry, just damp. Damp is good, and lots of bedding will tend to keep moisture while absorbing excess.

-Air is critical - but if bedding is plentiful and loose, and not too wet, and there isn't too much food, it shouldn't be a problem or need extra attention. Cardboard is helpful in that it keeps some physical structure to let air pass through and all bedding absorbs water. Too much water and food make the bin go anaerobic and toxins and nasty gases will build up. If there's air and it's not too wet, various microbes and fungi will eat the bad stuff and/or they will dissipate/evaporate.

The buffer layer of bedding at the top absorbs some moisture, will let air in and keep some moisture in/lets some out, and provides a safe space for worms to move in and out of as they need if the lower part of the bin is inhospitable. Bedding can be added to the top whenever that buffer layer gets thin, it will slowly disappear.

YMMV and just what's worked for me.

Armoured - Thanks for the great advice ! How fine do you shred the cardboard and what do you use to shred it ?? What is your technique for feeding ( type of "food" / where you place it in the bin, and how much do you use ) ??

Thanks Again !!

I'm rather lazy about cardboard - rip it by hand or cut with an exact knife. The former is easy if the cardboard is soaked before. Obviously the smaller the pieces (shred) the better, but I don't worry if they're fairly large, they break down eventually. Oh, egg carton flats are really good too.

Feeding: I don't have much to add to how others do it and what they've said above; I find if there's plenty of bedding it doesn't matter as much, and can be spread around. But sticking in a corner under bedding works well too and let the worms come to it when they're ready seems the most common approach. To me the main thing about feeding is to not overdo it and pay attention to how wet the stuff is (more bedding), and cover with bedding/shredded paper to keep fruit flies down. It's better to cut into small pieces / blend, but if you're not in a rush, even that isn't so important.