u/Glad-Emu-8178

Hi all I finally seem to have a good healthy batch of beetles and 5 up and coming trays of mealworms. I’m rearing them for my chickens. Wanting advice please.
How many larvae should I reserve for the next generation? I haven’t got larvae again yet but don’t want to feed all my mealworms to the chooks and forget to save enough for sustaining the population. I have 7 chickens.
Currently they are on commercial layer pellets and I am growing duckweed and mealworms to eventually become less reliant on shop bought non organic food.
The last batch of organic chook food I bought was off and my chooks refused it even though it was expensive so I’m back to non organic which I hate but the organic was $80 a bag vs $40 a bag and they wouldn’t eat it. Hence my mealworm farm attempts. Currently they are eating wheat bran and carrots and I tried oatmeal but it’s definitely not got as many eggs/worms in that tray and seems to attract more ants and go mouldy quicker.

My dog (3yrs) small around 11kg ,has barrier rage , possession guarding and sleep startle along with vehicle and dog reactivity on walks. Recently having rages (lunging and barking) at me for minor things like reaching to remove harness. No bites yet but very likely at some stage. Also aggressive behaviour towards my other dog. No history of abuse and is my fourth dog so have done lots of experiences etc she is just different. Has anyone found that endep makes their reactive dog worse? My dog is on zactin 3/4 tablet and we are trying endep to see if she improves. My impression is she is more aggressive/nervous on the endep ,has anyone else found this?
I do have clonidine for situations but it zaps her and then she is foul and grumpy /aggressive when it wears off.
I am at the considering BE before she bites stage. I can’t get a harness on her now as she has become reactive to that (despite much work and well fitting harness etc). So I can’t walk her as much and she is becoming more and more aggressive to my other dog.
Hoping for some good reviews of any other meds. I bought hemp seed oil which was advertised as cbd but when it arrived it says no cbd/thc in it. Also unsure of interactions with the other meds? Would probably try anything at this stage.
Have a supportive behaviour vet who is helpful prescribing meds but as yet we haven’t had much luck with reactivity. We have tried pain trial.
Am resorting now to puppy pen (inside) and back yard separated from other dog. Lots of playing ball and frisbee as she loves that and seems so normal outside? I have a big yard so she gets lots of exercise.
I have started keeping her away from any guests and especially children as they could accidentally step on her foot and she would go mad perhaps bite.
Starting to feel scared of her and also concerned for my other dog (aged 4).
Finding it very hard to consider BE but feeling like medication is not yet working for any reduction in reactivity. Thoughts and experiences on other behaviour meds gratefully received.

Hi everyone! I have just started growing mealworms and have got some finally to the beetle stage. I currently have three trays.. mealworms, pupae and beetles. My question is how do I feed the beetles. They are currently just sitting up in small groups at the top of my cardboard cartons and seem to be ignoring the carrot and oat bran. Are they eating at night or should I add some whole oats? Some people say lettuce but I don’t want mould.
Also I had a tiny ant invasion of the pupae box today which I spotted and stopped but how do I deter them? I am an organic gardener so don’t want to use pesticides. How do people keep out ants? Mine are currently inside but will go outside when the weather warms up. Thanks for any advice.

Hi! For those who experience irritation from Ovestin (it was driving me crazy every time the pessary started melting (so itchy and uncomfortable) , the Vagifem is a tiny pessary and comes with handy applicator and has no side effects at all so far. Such a relief to have a non cream option for vaginal insertion that doesn’t have irritation on use. I’m sure the Ovestin doesn’t irritate some folks but it was getting more and more irritating for me to the point I couldn’t use it. Also the vagifem seems to be causing less annoying discharge (for those who find such things annoying). Just thought I would mention as sometimes you can ask when you get your script! I think it is a slightly lower dose but it is much better than no dose if you can’t use other options!