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| I have a good bit of old dog kibble that I would like to use in my upcoming worm bin. How digestible is this for worms? Would they be able to break it down rapidly? |
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| Probably. Would recommend soaking in water just in case it has a high salt content, and after that, just putting it in a corner of the bin. Cover with damp newspaper bedding, and check back in a few days to see if the worms went for it. Always best to let the worms come to the food. Many herds have been lost by having the food bury the worms. Pocket feeding is also a great way to avoid a bug fest. If the bugs can't smell the decaying scraps because of your damp newspaper bedding, they'll go elsewhere. |
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| I had a bag of dog food that was accidently left outside one day in the rain. When I checked the bag a day later, it was full of maggots. You may want to make sure that flies can't get to the dog food before the worms by covering it up well with more bedding like jerry g mentioned. |
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| "How digestible is this for worms?" worms do not 'digest' what you add to the bin, they consume the microbes that are decomposing the stuff by 'slurping' the softened, slimey surface, and how fast they deal with anything is totally a function of how rapidly it will microbially decompose .... worms can be fed any organic material as said, wet it well, and considering it will have a high protein content [nitrogen], add it sparingly to insure it doesn't heat up Bill |
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| Be sure to check the ingredients and the fat % of the kibble. Putting meat-based substances into worm boxes and/or compost bins is generally frowned on, and fat isn't far behind in the negative-comments department. Maybe a small amount first, rather than the whole bag, and see what happens? (I have dogs, too, and I *know* that their kibble is high in meat--it'd better be! given what I pay for it....) ;-) Cynthia H. |
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| Thanks for the replies. I think I will play it safe and leave the dog food out of the mix. |
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