In October of 2024, I started a long-term worm feeding experiment. I have not blogged about the results, since I am not sure what to make of them myself. The idea was to run a bin using only shredded cardboard as bedding and feeding nothing but animal protein, i.e. eggs, dairy and meat. I ran the experiment for 8 ½ months. Everything went well until the last month when the worms looked unhealthy, began trying to crawl out of the bedding and finally died.
Why did the worms die? I don’t know. I doubt that it had anything to do with the animal protein food, since the worms were healthy for more than 7 months. The bin had no ventilation holes, and toward the end of the experiment, I was opening the lid less often. So that may have been the cause. But since I can’t be certain, I didn’t report the results.
So, what, exactly, was fed to the worms? Poached eggs, yogurt, cream, cooked chicken skins, raw chicken gizzards and raw chicken liver. The idea was to spend as little money as possible feeding this bin. Eggs are cheap protein. I had yogurt and cream going bad in my refrigerator. The skin was removed from a chicken that I had cooked. Chicken gizzards and livers are often marked down when they approach their sell by dates.
All of the food was eaten. There were no maggots. The smell varied from no smell to a bit of a stinky smell when the bedding was turned. I consider this experiment a tentative success. I plan to repeat it, this time paying more attention to air flow through the bin.
Even though the worms did eventually die, I would conclude that feeding the occasional small amounts of animal protein should not be a problem in a worm bin. I have no hesitation to toss in fat trimmed from meat, or dairy that has been in the refrigerator too long.
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For those who would like more details, here are my notes:
October 14 2024
Original bedding prepared.
October 21
Added ~ ½ lb of worms and fed 1 boiled egg.
October 28
Added more worms. Fed small amount of yogurt. (1/2 cup?)
November 2
Fed more yogurt. Worms are crowded around last yogurt feeding.
November 11
Added more worms. Fed 1 cooked egg. Last yogurt feeding was largely ignored, but after mushing it up a bit, the worms are attacking it. The yogurt stinks.
Dec 2
Fed chicken skins. It is cold. Things are breaking down slowly. Worms look healthy.
Dec 21
Added a lot more worms. This may be the last addition. Worms already in the bin look healthy. Still working on the yogurt and chicken skins. Maybe feed again soon?
Dec 25
Worms look healthy. No signs of yogurt. Fed remaining whipping cream.
Jan 9
Fed about 1 cup of old yogurt. This (new) yogurt had started to go moldy. I can’t find any chicken skin.
Jan 20
Fed about 1 cup yogurt. The bin smells a bit. There are no signs of the chicken skins.
Jan 29
Fed 2 cooked eggs and about ¼ cup yogurt.
Feb 24
All previous food pretty much gone. Worms are healthy. No smell. Fed ~1/2 cup yogurt.
Feb 26
Added a small handful of bedding. Fed about ¾ cup of chopped chicken livers.
Mar 3
Fed about 1 ½ cup of chicken liver chopped up. Most of the previous chicken liver is gone. Still finding yogurt. No smell. Worms look healthy. Added a small amount of bedding to absorb the blood from the liver.
Mar 17
Fed about 1 cup of chicken liver sorta chopped up. Also added bedding to absorb the blood. Worms look fat and healthy. Very slight smell.
Mar 27
Most liver is gone. Bin smells good. Could use some more bedding. Bin is a little damp. Worms look very healthy. Still finding small bits of uneaten yogurt. Fed a pound of chopped up chicken gizzard.
April 7
Fed a smidge more than a cup of whole chicken livers. Some of previous feeding still visible. No strong smells.
April 28
Fed 1 ¼ pounds of whole chicken liver. There is still a small amount of the previous feeding. No bad smells. Worms look healthy.
May 6
Worms look healthy. They are eating the liver. The bin stinks when the bedding is turned. No new feeding.
May 12
There is still some liver. There is a bit of a smell when the bedding is turned. Despite that, I fed a pound of chicken gizzards. The worms are very healthy. I also topped off the bedding.
May 31
Worms look healthy. A few crawling on the sides of the bin. Added a lot of bedding, since everything was pretty much processed. Almost nothing left of previous feedings. Fed 1 pound of chicken gizzards.
June 1
Worms do not look healthy. There is a massive escape. I have not taken the lid off for a couple of weeks, could that be a cause of the problem?
June 18
Worms look healthy again. The escape does not seem to be caused by the protein. Almost all of the previous feeding is gone, as is the bedding. Added a lot of bedding.
June 21
Fed nearly 2 lbs (~ 30 oz) of chicken liver. Everything looks good. The finished castings at the bottom are a little wet.
June 29
The entire bin has died off. I don’t know why. Possibly overheating and lack of ventilation.