“I am hand-sifting my worms every six weeks or so when I see the bedding is eaten up and the “bedding” has become dark with castings. Upon sifting out the larger worms, I have left what I call “babies and eggs”. I put the “babies and eggs” in their own bin of fresh, moist bedding.
What is the optimum feeding technique for this collection of very small worms and the cocoons that haven’t hatched yet? Would it be better if I just put the “babies and eggs” in with the adult worms in a bin of fresh bedding and feed them vegetable scraps as usual?” ~ Vidya
Hi Vidya,
It seems like you are trying to take good care of your babies which is great!
But if you really care for your baby worms, I’m afraid you will have to learn to let go and place them back with the rest of the worms!
It may seem that baby worms need more care and nurture to help them survive and grow. After all, can they compete against all the other adult worms stealing their food? Will they be able to eat the food in such large chunks?
The good news is that the worms will do absolutely fine if you place them in your normal bin with the other worms, if not BETTER! Baby worms will eat the feed just fine, as they will be feeding on the micro-organisms growing off the waste, rather then the waste itself.
If there is a particular type of waste you grow your worms in, then it is important that you grow your baby worms in this type of waste.
Worms have been known to grow to adapt to their surrounding environment. This means that if the worms were brought up eating vegetables, they will conform their diet to vegetables and as an adult they will degrade vegetables better!
If the worms were growing in an environment of manure, then they will be used to a diet of manure and as an adult will degrade manure much faster.
So don’t separate your baby worms and cocoons from the rest of the bunch.
As long as there is a good amount of food available for them, and the conditions such as moisture, pH and temperature is right, then the cocoons will hatch and the baby worms will grow prolifically!
