Good morning, Jane. I think watching other channels while sorting is what many of us do. I'm making breakfast and listening to your complete video. Excellent advice and kudos to the Cameraman ❤Peggy❤
Good explanation of your process, Jayne. Your cocoons are so visible in your castings. I think the darker cocoons are harder to find because there isn't as much of a contrast! ~ Sandra
Hi Simone! It’s true! Worms - like any animal - acclimates to it’s environment and food source/type is one of those environmental factors. If you’re used to eating creamed corn and someone gives you corn on the cob for the first time in your life, you don’t know what to do with it. And you may get a belly ache. Worms grown on worm chow or manures won’t know what to do or how to process food scraps. But their babies will! It’s one of those things we don’t think about but it can really effect the success of a new worm population. Thanks for watching!!
Hi Patti! I’m glad I’m helping you out! That’s a mission of mine - to bring worm farming to the masses 🤣. Seriously, thank you for saying that - the positive feedback means a lot to me ❤️
Hi Guy! I’ve said this before, I find it very zen to pick cocoons 🤗. Isisally that is! Last night was was getting a cocoon order ready to ship today and I was just too tired from working outside in the high 90sF heat so kept messing up the count. After the 4th try I gave up and just picked cocoons. I wasn’t feeling the zen 🤣. I’ll count out the order number this morning now that I’m refreshed. It’ll be fast as all the cocoons are concentrated in my counting lids. 👍🤩. Thanks for watching! 🥰🪱
Hi! That’s a good way to describe it - cathartic. Very zen. This is a ‘regular bin’ so not as jam packed with cocoons as the breeder bins are 😳😆. It’s a great way to get castings out of a bin so there’s room to add new bedding. The picked cocoons can be added right back in - although as I mentioned in the video I have a new way of doing that too! I’ll post that video next week 😊. Thanks for watching❤️
Hi Valentino! You could use a small teaspoon if you wanted. I prefer the tweezers as it only gets the cocoons and not the surrounding bedding. I exert only enough pressure to lightly grip the cocoon. And it’s really really light pressure as the cocoon is a little sticky anyway and sticks to the tweezers with no pressure at all. I usually have to gently flick the cocoon off the tweezers after moving it to the bowl. Does that mean I’ve never squeezed out a baby worm? No, I’ve certainly done that. But it’s rare and the baby was probably near to hatching and goes into the bin with everyone else 😊. You should absolutely do what you’re comfortable with! There’s more than one way to raise that worm 😝
I can imagine people don't like to wait so long. But with all my experienced with worms on the post, I think it's more friendly and cheaper to sent to the cliënt.
Hi! How have you been? I’m doing a nice little business with the cocoons. I’ve also had worm orders (adults/breeders) too but more cocoons overall. Cocoons are easier to ship, handle the stress of shipping better, have a larger shipping window, and are a very cost effective way to get lots of worms for a good price. It absolutely takes longer for the next generation to happen but that’s the (small) trade off. I do think that getting cocoons from me, for example, are a very good alternative to buying worms from most big sellers. Not only are you getting only red wiggler worm stock but since a lot of the big sellers sell mixed ages (and mostly skinny juveniles at that) the wait time between those worms maturing and producing good cocoons and waiting for the hatches from purchased quality cocoons is only a few weeks at most. I am biased of course but do honestly feel that’s true. The red wiggler adults I sell are indeed breeder adults and are already making lovely cocoons. So buying my adult worms is more dollar expensive but is more time effective and, during the safe shipping times, a good blend of what most worm wranglers are looking for ❤️🪱🤩 Thanks for watching! 😊
@@RockinWorms I always find it better to buy from small, reliable growers. Yesterday I would finally receive my Lubricus rubellus (a very good alternative to the Eidenia fedita which is not available here in Europe). The postman drove away too quickly. Just before the holidays, after days of storm baro pressure, we are now in the sun. Had to drive miles to get her stuck. Just before the holidays... With cocoons the stress would not have been there. (tip, the Lr seems to be the only one that is resistant to nanometals. Future-proof!) Keep going on with the good video's!
I remove all the adults and just leave the cocoons to be a nursery bin 🤷♀️ That’s a lot of double handling 😉 Cocoons need moisture to hatch just as worms do, the moisture softens the cocoon opening. You can’t just throw them out in your garden as you’ll lesson hatch rate and survival rate.. they don’t work like that!
Hi Usha! I was doing the same thing - removing the breeders and leaving the cocoons in the bin to hatch - until recently. I needed to start combining bins due to space limitations plus with my new bedding mixture the worms are eating it up quite quickly. I can sift out a lot of castings sooner which is great on its own and also helps with being able to combine the bins (less volume). I’d love to have a better/faster way to deal with cocoons when they have to be moved. If you have suggestions on that please share! Absolutely the hatch and survival rate ‘in the wild’ will be less than in a controlled environment like a worm bin. That’s to be expected. But enough will make it 😊. They’ve been surviving for millennia after all thankfully ! Thanks for pointing out that moisture helps the babies hatch by softening the cocoons so they can emerge easier. Good info! Thanks for watching and sharing your knowledge and experience ❤️❤️
Hello! I only have red wiggler worms so I have no personal experience with the African nightcrawlers and how their cocoons compare to the esenia family of worms 🤷♂️. I can however ask a few people that have both what they’ve seen for cocoons differences. I’ll post back here as soon as I get some information!
@@GrownManGames Hi! All I’ve gotten so far is that ANC cocoons are a little bigger and a slightly different color. I’ll keep asking and if I find out anything more helpful I’ll post back 😊.
Hi Amber! I use a cement mixer I bought used off of facebook marketplace for cheap. I stretch window/pool patio screen over the opening. In the drum is the dry cow manure and a dozen old golf balls that help break up the manure as the drum rotates. The manure shifts thru the screen into a catch bin below. Works really well. The manure however is super fine and dry and flies everywhere. Wearing a mask is necessary.
@@RockinWorms Wow, I Definitely don't have that. So I was thinking an old blender? If you think that wont-work then I will just mix it in with my soil when I try to plant corn and pumpkins. What do you think? I'd like to use it for the worms but if I can't then the garden is the way I want to go. Help! I have enjoyed and found ur posts to b very helpful.
@@68Ambermw Hi! I don’t think you really even have to break it up at all for the worms to be able to eat it. It’s not sifted to a fine powder in nature after all and the worms eat it ❤️. They’ll work the edges and ‘sift’ it themselves 😆. One common name for red wigglers IS manure worms! If the manure is aged a bit and dry, then break it up using a shovel blade, your hands (which I do with the bigger chunks before in place into the cement mixer), place it in a small pile and run it over with the car a few times and sweep it up 🤣. How about an old cheese grater? The old blender idea may work but some of the pieces are really really hard and I’m not sure the way a blender works would do the trick. It’s worth a try if you don’t mind possibly ruining it. I tried powdering bouillon cubes once in a blender - did NOT work and almost ruined the blender for the nano second I had it running. Some pieces of manure will be just as hard. The manure that doesn’t break down in my cement mixer - and there is always some - does go directly into the garden. Really, the smaller bits is to make it easier to go into whatever container you’re using as your worm bin and start rehydrating it. You can spray water on the outside of the manure clumps to hydrate it and the worms and biota will get to work. Spray it again, if needed, as the worm work it down. Sifting makes it easier to store as well for me - in large buckets or small garbage cans - but large bags would be ok for chunky pieces too. The fine powder also allows me to mix it uniformly throughout my bedding substrate but again, I don’t believe that’s a requirement, just a preference 😊. Has this answer helped you at all? I’m happy to keep brainstorming with you 👍. I think any way you can get food stock like manure into your worm food supply is great!!
Hi Linda! I can only give you my best guess. A cocoon is soft and jelly-like when the worm backs out of it. If it sticks a bit coming off it may form a more elongated structure. If the worm rubs up against something to help pull the cocoon off, that can effect the final shape of the cocoon. If it pops off easy-cheesy then a nice round cocoon forms. Worms are covered with a thin layer of mucus which I’m sure fluctuates in viscosity at times. That may effect how easy a cocoon comes off as well. Age of the worm itself might make a difference too. Worms are just now starting to get more interest from corporations as their amazing capabilities are discovered and leveraged. The general public is also becoming increasingly interested in worm farming. All this will result in more money getting funneled into research. Some of our many questions might get some answers! If anyone reading this comment has more fact supported information than my best guesses, please share!! Thanks Linda for a great question!
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Good morning, Jane. I think watching other channels while sorting is what many of us do.
I'm making breakfast and listening to your complete video.
Excellent advice and kudos to the Cameraman
❤Peggy❤
Good explanation of your process, Jayne. Your cocoons are so visible in your castings. I think the darker cocoons are harder to find because there isn't as much of a contrast!
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra! That’s so true. The darker ones are harder to spot. But after lots of practice it gets easier 😆
What an amazing point about the generational acclimation to bedding, feed, etc from different breeder.
Hi Simone! It’s true! Worms - like any animal - acclimates to it’s environment and food source/type is one of those environmental factors. If you’re used to eating creamed corn and someone gives you corn on the cob for the first time in your life, you don’t know what to do with it. And you may get a belly ache. Worms grown on worm chow or manures won’t know what to do or how to process food scraps. But their babies will! It’s one of those things we don’t think about but it can really effect the success of a new worm population.
Thanks for watching!!
I’m learning so much from you. I’m new at farming worms and your information is really helping me be successful.
Hi Patti! I’m glad I’m helping you out! That’s a mission of mine - to bring worm farming to the masses 🤣.
Seriously, thank you for saying that - the positive feedback means a lot to me ❤️
I don't know why, but I find watching this very relaxing, as well as being great information!
Hi Guy! I’ve said this before, I find it very zen to pick cocoons 🤗. Isisally that is! Last night was was getting a cocoon order ready to ship today and I was just too tired from working outside in the high 90sF heat so kept messing up the count. After the 4th try I gave up and just picked cocoons. I wasn’t feeling the zen 🤣.
I’ll count out the order number this morning now that I’m refreshed. It’ll be fast as all the cocoons are concentrated in my counting lids. 👍🤩.
Thanks for watching! 🥰🪱
Thanks Jane. I am imagine this being a cathardic process one might enjoy while resting on the couch!
Hi! That’s a good way to describe it - cathartic. Very zen. This is a ‘regular bin’ so not as jam packed with cocoons as the breeder bins are 😳😆.
It’s a great way to get castings out of a bin so there’s room to add new bedding. The picked cocoons can be added right back in - although as I mentioned in the video I have a new way of doing that too! I’ll post that video next week 😊.
Thanks for watching❤️
A small teaspoon would be safer than tweezers because it doesn't create a grip that we never know if it's too strong.
Hi Valentino! You could use a small teaspoon if you wanted. I prefer the tweezers as it only gets the cocoons and not the surrounding bedding. I exert only enough pressure to lightly grip the cocoon. And it’s really really light pressure as the cocoon is a little sticky anyway and sticks to the tweezers with no pressure at all. I usually have to gently flick the cocoon off the tweezers after moving it to the bowl. Does that mean I’ve never squeezed out a baby worm? No, I’ve certainly done that. But it’s rare and the baby was probably near to hatching and goes into the bin with everyone else 😊.
You should absolutely do what you’re comfortable with! There’s more than one way to raise that worm 😝
I can imagine people don't like to wait so long. But with all my experienced with worms on the post, I think it's more friendly and cheaper to sent to the cliënt.
Hi! How have you been?
I’m doing a nice little business with the cocoons. I’ve also had worm orders (adults/breeders) too but more cocoons overall.
Cocoons are easier to ship, handle the stress of shipping better, have a larger shipping window, and are a very cost effective way to get lots of worms for a good price. It absolutely takes longer for the next generation to happen but that’s the (small) trade off.
I do think that getting cocoons from me, for example, are a very good alternative to buying worms from most big sellers. Not only are you getting only red wiggler worm stock but since a lot of the big sellers sell mixed ages (and mostly skinny juveniles at that) the wait time between those worms maturing and producing good cocoons and waiting for the hatches from purchased quality cocoons is only a few weeks at most. I am biased of course but do honestly feel that’s true. The red wiggler adults I sell are indeed breeder adults and are already making lovely cocoons. So buying my adult worms is more dollar expensive but is more time effective and, during the safe shipping times, a good blend of what most worm wranglers are looking for ❤️🪱🤩
Thanks for watching! 😊
@@RockinWorms I always find it better to buy from small, reliable growers. Yesterday I would finally receive my Lubricus rubellus (a very good alternative to the Eidenia fedita which is not available here in Europe). The postman drove away too quickly. Just before the holidays, after days of storm baro pressure, we are now in the sun. Had to drive miles to get her stuck. Just before the holidays... With cocoons the stress would not have been there. (tip, the Lr seems to be the only one that is resistant to nanometals. Future-proof!)
Keep going on with the good video's!
I remove all the adults and just leave the cocoons to be a nursery bin 🤷♀️
That’s a lot of double handling 😉
Cocoons need moisture to hatch just as worms do, the moisture softens the cocoon opening. You can’t just throw them out in your garden as you’ll lesson hatch rate and survival rate.. they don’t work like that!
Hi Usha! I was doing the same thing - removing the breeders and leaving the cocoons in the bin to hatch - until recently. I needed to start combining bins due to space limitations plus with my new bedding mixture the worms are eating it up quite quickly. I can sift out a lot of castings sooner which is great on its own and also helps with being able to combine the bins (less volume).
I’d love to have a better/faster way to deal with cocoons when they have to be moved. If you have suggestions on that please share!
Absolutely the hatch and survival rate ‘in the wild’ will be less than in a controlled environment like a worm bin. That’s to be expected. But enough will make it 😊. They’ve been surviving for millennia after all thankfully !
Thanks for pointing out that moisture helps the babies hatch by softening the cocoons so they can emerge easier. Good info!
Thanks for watching and sharing your knowledge and experience ❤️❤️
Do you know if african nightcrawler cocoons look different from red wigglers?
Hello! I only have red wiggler worms so I have no personal experience with the African nightcrawlers and how their cocoons compare to the esenia family of worms 🤷♂️. I can however ask a few people that have both what they’ve seen for cocoons differences. I’ll post back here as soon as I get some information!
@@RockinWorms ok great thank you.
@@GrownManGames Hi! All I’ve gotten so far is that ANC cocoons are a little bigger and a slightly different color. I’ll keep asking and if I find out anything more helpful I’ll post back 😊.
@@RockinWorms thank you for taking the effort to find out and let me know. I appreciate it.
Hi. You mentioned cow Manure in this video. How do you grind it up for food?
Hi Amber! I use a cement mixer I bought used off of facebook marketplace for cheap. I stretch window/pool patio screen over the opening. In the drum is the dry cow manure and a dozen old golf balls that help break up the manure as the drum rotates. The manure shifts thru the screen into a catch bin below. Works really well. The manure however is super fine and dry and flies everywhere. Wearing a mask is necessary.
@@RockinWorms Wow, I Definitely don't have that. So I was thinking an old blender? If you think that wont-work then I will just mix it in with my soil when I try to plant corn and pumpkins. What do you think? I'd like to use it for the worms but if I can't then the garden is the way I want to go. Help! I have enjoyed and found ur posts to b very helpful.
@@68Ambermw Hi! I don’t think you really even have to break it up at all for the worms to be able to eat it. It’s not sifted to a fine powder in nature after all and the worms eat it ❤️. They’ll work the edges and ‘sift’ it themselves 😆.
One common name for red wigglers IS manure worms!
If the manure is aged a bit and dry, then break it up using a shovel blade, your hands (which I do with the bigger chunks before in place into the cement mixer), place it in a small pile and run it over with the car a few times and sweep it up 🤣. How about an old cheese grater? The old blender idea may work but some of the pieces are really really hard and I’m not sure the way a blender works would do the trick. It’s worth a try if you don’t mind possibly ruining it. I tried powdering bouillon cubes once in a blender - did NOT work and almost ruined the blender for the nano second I had it running. Some pieces of manure will be just as hard. The manure that doesn’t break down in my cement mixer - and there is always some - does go directly into the garden.
Really, the smaller bits is to make it easier to go into whatever container you’re using as your worm bin and start rehydrating it. You can spray water on the outside of the manure clumps to hydrate it and the worms and biota will get to work. Spray it again, if needed, as the worm work it down. Sifting makes it easier to store as well for me - in large buckets or small garbage cans - but large bags would be ok for chunky pieces too. The fine powder also allows me to mix it uniformly throughout my bedding substrate but again, I don’t believe that’s a requirement, just a preference 😊.
Has this answer helped you at all? I’m happy to keep brainstorming with you 👍. I think any way you can get food stock like manure into your worm food supply is great!!
Why are the cocoons different shapes? Some are round some are sweet potato shaped.
Hi Linda! I can only give you my best guess. A cocoon is soft and jelly-like when the worm backs out of it. If it sticks a bit coming off it may form a more elongated structure. If the worm rubs up against something to help pull the cocoon off, that can effect the final shape of the cocoon. If it pops off easy-cheesy then a nice round cocoon forms.
Worms are covered with a thin layer of mucus which I’m sure fluctuates in viscosity at times. That may effect how easy a cocoon comes off as well. Age of the worm itself might make a difference too.
Worms are just now starting to get more interest from corporations as their amazing capabilities are discovered and leveraged. The general public is also becoming increasingly interested in worm farming. All this will result in more money getting funneled into research. Some of our many questions might get some answers!
If anyone reading this comment has more fact supported information than my best guesses, please share!!
Thanks Linda for a great question!