Earth Worms?

Question

Serious Answers Only....ok....

I need to know what EarhtWorms eat ???
I know coffee grounds are good but thats it~

In case ur wondering why I ask...I go fishing...trout & lg. mouth bass. I also have 2 horses and over the winter their manuer gets stored in a huge pile till in the spring, then it all gets spread &
recycled-lol. So....
How this all started...there were these real big healthy looking worms at the bottom of this pile & like I said~ I go fishing in the spring & summer so...instead of buying them ...I'd figured I'd use what I have ...plus they are put to good use in the flower & veggie garden...so there's a dual purpose here.

Now, to continue Inside -in a garage for coolness-stored in a cooler, with air, dirt from the pasture...now back to my question from above.
Thanx for ur time...I'm not strange...lol...I promise! Jus wanna know if I can really continue the cycle here. Cya

Answer 1

I think you have a good idea, and I found out that worms do indeed feed on manure and other organic materials. So you could surely use the manure as food for the worms, just spread it on top of the dirt.

Excerpt from wikipedia.....

Biological. The earthworm is essential to composting; the process of converting dead organic matter into rich humus, a medium vital to the growth of healthy plants, and thus ensuring the continuance of the cycle of fertility. This is achieved by the worm's actions of pulling down below any organic matter deposited on the soil surface (eg, leaf fall, MANURE, etc) either for food or when it needs to plug its burrow. Once in the burrow, the worm will shred the leaf and partially digest it, then mingle it with the earth by saturating it with intestinal secretions. Worm casts (see below) can contain 40% more humus than the top 6" of soil in which the worm is living.
Chemical. As well as dead organic matter, the earthworm also ingests any other soil particles that are small enough—including stones up to 1/20 of an inch (1.25mm) across—into its 'crop' wherein minute fragments of grit grind everything into a fine paste which is then digested in the stomach. When the worm excretes this in the form of casts which are deposited on the surface or deeper in the soil, a perfectly balanced selection of minerals and plant nutrients is made available in an accessible form. Investigations in the US show that fresh earthworm casts are 5 times richer in available nitrogen, 7 times richer in available phosphates and 11 times richer in available potash than the surrounding upper 6 inches (150 mm) of soil. In conditions where there is plenty of available humus, the weight of casts produced may be greater than 4.5 kg (10 lb) per worm per year, in itself an indicator of why it pays the gardener or farmer to keep worm populations high.

Answer 2

Worms don't consume dust they love natural topic akin to vegetation, fruit, compost tons of reduce grass, potato peelings and decaying animals. When the meals is just too giant for his or her mouths they moisten it to make it tender and suck it in. Worms of direction haven't any tooth and the "gizzard" does all of the paintings. The grains of sand or soil can be ingested in with the meals in conjunction with moisture (just like birds and chickens) and a grinding approach happens. When the meals leaves the computer virus's gizzard is is going into the gut and is dissolved and absorbed into the computer virus's blood which additionally maintains the worms wet and powerful.

Answer 3

Earthworms actually eat the soil they are burrowing through. They digest the organic matter in the soil, and the inorganic (mineral) portion simply passes on through their digestive tract. So as long as they are in good rich soil with plenty of organic matter and moisture, they are well fed. You don't have to feed them anything additional.

Answer 4

They get nutrients from the soil . If you put compost materials, paper, newspaper, etc. in the soil this will give them lots to keep healthy.

Answer 5

dirt

Answer 6

Dead vegetation and other organics stuff