Better than Self-Sorting: Home Mealworm Farm Overview

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Better than Self-Sorting: Home Mealworm Farm Overview

Рет қаралды 264,316

Күн бұрын

We have recently shifted away from our self sorting bins in favor of some new tools that have made our work WAY faster and easier. This video shows them in use as i run our mealworm farm through its twice a month sifting. If you want to grab any of this gear, check out the links below:
Space Coast Mealworms: / @spacecoastmealworms
Pupae Sifting Tray - www.spacecoast...
Use the promo code WELCOMEBACK at checkout for 10% off.
Sifters - amzn.to/2wMjRK8
Enjoy!

Пікірлер: 370

@haraldcoppoolse4149 5 жыл бұрын

Now that you seem to have established the best method, could you make a video (or write down), how many boxes you have, and the contents it has, how often you sift, after how many weeks you think that the mealworms are grown enough to be fed. How do you remove the dead beatles, etc.

@JimmyDean1992 5 жыл бұрын

This is by far the best video I have ever seen for raising meal worms!

@Nibbles2point0 5 жыл бұрын

Me too!!

@regwells615 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to make this.

@propergander8509 5 жыл бұрын

Imagine you're a Beetle and just minding your business, when suddenly some furry dude pours you and your friends out of your home and starts sifting you... LMAO

@Nibbles2point0 5 жыл бұрын

ARMAGEDDON!!! 😂

@sheraklassen4163 4 жыл бұрын

@@Nibbles2point0 Wormageddon! 😂

@chrisinedison 4 жыл бұрын

Proper Gander 😂😂😂😂😂 Hilarious

@jackpepperfarms3416 3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha right! Lol

@stephaniephilo6964 Жыл бұрын

So, like an alien Abuct!on 😏 nice

@Bethany0420 2 жыл бұрын

Another thing my mealworms and Beatles love is hard ground up dog food, and also a different mixture of ground cereals.

@dawnschneider4688 4 жыл бұрын

We used the green sifters for gold mining. Long time ago.

@edwardkeenan6138 5 жыл бұрын

Cool man you're helping me save money thank you and God bless you

@PermacultureAutonomie 6 жыл бұрын

hi, thank you from france, i start my litlle mealworm farm for my chikens 3 month ago, this insect are so productif ,it's crazy..

@WelcomeBackWoods 6 жыл бұрын

Permaculture Autonomie so crazy, and so easy 😊 Thanks for watching!

@Nibbles2point0 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this video!! I just started a tiny farm, then like a week later I’m at Walmart buying bins and ordering 7000 mealworms!!! I decided to skip the method where the eggs fall through the screen, instead I am doing what you are doing. Sort em. I need more beetles though, I think I’m going to buy some extra pupae on eBay.

@pecador_tor Жыл бұрын

Just keep feeding the mealworms so they can pupate

@carrytheworldnonprofit2883 5 жыл бұрын

as far as I heard, mealworms should only be a small percentage of the food, chickens eat. I don't know for sure because I haven't tried it out yet. I do grow mealworms but I also grow corn, wheat, sunflowers, and some other stuff I don't know the english name of, for the chickens. My chickens only get about 5 percent of mealworms a day and about 5 percent of eisenia hortensis. The eisenia's are totally free because of the compostables I get from my kitchen and other people. Nice video. Keep up the good work. Love your chickens btw.

@ufochris 5 жыл бұрын

I read 10 mealies per chicken per day .

@reneebrown2968 2 жыл бұрын

Now the pupae sifter is a game changer.

@tonywhiston6768 5 жыл бұрын

Great tutorial bud I'm over in the UK and have a few friends that have chicken reptiles and feed garden birds. The tubs are easily sourced here in the UK thru Asda a Walmart Company. What I was interested in was the mesh sizes of the sieves as I may be able to utilise the sieves from my worm castings. The left over Bran substrate could also be fed into the worm bins. Regards from the UK

@patshhi4620 5 жыл бұрын

I didn’t know there were different colors of Silkies. I’ve only seen white. I like those guys......those screens are nice. I can see why they save you time. Thanks for another great video.

@margaretmathis4775 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I am feeding mealworms to my bluebirds and to my box turtles. As much as the turtles LOVE mealworms, I think they would be in heaven for a few of the beetles!

@wifigrannyl.1354 2 жыл бұрын

Great idea. I plan on getting chickens soon. Your silkies are gorgeous & look so healthy!

@teacher_of_the_arcane5399 5 жыл бұрын

A tunnel system for your birds?? Don't let the CIA know you've gone underground ! :-)

@katblevins8736 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! Cool looking chickens!

@thinkandgoaloe2432 6 ай бұрын

They are called silkie chickens. Very friendly hens

@labella9291 5 жыл бұрын

I am so glad to see you wearing a mask Ever since I developed mealworm allergies, I have been screaming about people wearing masks due to the frass.

@coleweede1953 5 жыл бұрын

What did you mean? What's wrong with mealworms

@DonnieBrasco-dy9yd 4 жыл бұрын

@@coleweede1953 Did you even read the comment?

@forlornqueen 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much, this is literally the best mealworm raising video that I've found! I'm vegan and don't want to buy any animal products but since we keep carnivorous animals it's necessary to raise food for them and those sifters will be a huge help. We have silkies too ^_^ glad this came up in my suggested video feed

@joelsherrer8784 5 жыл бұрын

If you can get food scraps from friends , wether they are vegan or not, the chickens can eat a good bit of it and they help compost the rest. I feed my moms laying flock on compost and meal worms. Also if they break their own eggs the shell is a good calcium source if you don’t want to support seafood farming(oyster shells). Hope this helps

@DonnieBrasco-dy9yd 4 жыл бұрын

You keep chickens but you won't eat eggs because you're a vegan? Lol...

@Biaaaaaaaaa08 2 жыл бұрын

you feel bad about buying animal products xxD cause your're vegan but but you don't feel bad about breeding a insect that has been systemically bred to be murdered to create silk... interesting...

@beebop9808 4 жыл бұрын

Happy chickens! I'm feeding the song birds with mine. I just started experimenting with feeding my frass to my compost worm bins. Looks like they're liking it. It's all a fun little adventure!

@HorsePower7731 4 жыл бұрын

Great video...I also have mealworms (In Juarez City, Chihuahua Mexico). I do clean them so similar to you. Thank you so much for share your skills and tips. 👍👍👍

@FknNefFy 3 жыл бұрын

And crumple up some newspaper or put some dead leaves in there they really like to eat leaves and it also gives them something to hide under and crawl on and for your benefit if you don’t care about them… It will also encourage them to lay eggs because they like to do it in the dark in a more humid environments the leaves are really good

@reneebrown2968 2 жыл бұрын

I would love to be able to feed my hens about 1 lbs of them a day or so. That is what I would love to get up to. That and garden scraps I figure would feed my 6 hens fully.

@Chickmamapalletfarm 4 жыл бұрын

Cool video. I am just getting started and I was thinking of getting 2000 large to start. You have validated that choice. I am just looking to supplement protein for chickens and quail.

@organgem 5 жыл бұрын

Love your channel! This video has been a big help! Let's have an update on your operation!

@ezrazander 5 жыл бұрын

This really helped feed my blue tongue skink. Thanks The 4 dislikes were mealworms getting fed to lizards

@FusionDeveloper 4 жыл бұрын

I never thought about removing deformed genetics, good idea.

@michellearmogida7482 5 жыл бұрын

Great video! Def going to use this method when i expand my chicken flock. right now i have a smaller meal worm farm set up, so sorting is much easier.

@jecriggs 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this great how-to video! It's very timely for me. I am just into the first generation of all my own mealworms grown out ans starting to pupate. I know it's way past time to refresh my beetle drawer, but didn't really know how to easily separate them out. I really like the sifter set you use; it's on my wish list, but it's a bit too pricey for me ATM ($92 CAD is the best price I could find), so I will try to cobble together a DIY version to use until I can afford the real deal. Thanks again for a well done video.

@TheRealDonFito 5 жыл бұрын

try using a deep frying basket

@brs6623 4 жыл бұрын

Its basically a classifier not to expensive online

@mr.mister4071 4 жыл бұрын

Lucky chickens. You are spoiling them but they hopefully are repaying you with a lot of eggs. Need to do this for my chickens. Thanks.

@beebob1279 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Nice presentation. I'm just starting to investigate raising these things for fishing ( I have a few worm bins now). Do you have a video on the equipment and where to get it for starting? Where are you getting wheat bran? How much is it for a bag?

@truman5838 4 жыл бұрын

I watched Scott's video just yesterday. I knew who you were talking about as soon as you mentioned green sifters. Catch you on the next sift!

@thelittlefloofs23 6 жыл бұрын

Those are some fluffy chicken

@WelcomeBackWoods 6 жыл бұрын

TinyTornadoTurtles they are silkies and frizzles.

@patsyphillips89 3 жыл бұрын

I'm sure you have already been told, they are Silkies. Sweet, sweet chickens.

@Alamodem 2 жыл бұрын

Those are actually classifier screens. Often used in gold panning.

@marcheattention Жыл бұрын

Great! I like the video. Thank you. Also, the music is awesome!

@reneebrown2968 2 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't it be easier to move straight to the final screen and pick out the food bits. It would end the same and be quicker. At least for the beetles.

@FknNefFy 3 жыл бұрын

You should put the substrate in before you dump the worms or beetles in because they can burrow and at least they won’t land on the hard plastic it’s not any harder for you either

@nebenazemi9045 3 жыл бұрын

Great system - thanks for the video. 👍

@roshnijaffery4886 3 жыл бұрын

This video was so helpful thank you!

@chrisinedison 4 жыл бұрын

Great method. Thanks for sharing.

@Cindy-LeMarier 2 жыл бұрын

Hi I really enjoy your videos. I’m trying to start meal worms and super worms for my bearded dragon babies. My problem is , I think I’m allergic to the wheat bran. I also have no place to keep all the tubs. Thank you, gramma lou

@SamStone1964 2 жыл бұрын

You could be allergic to the frass. Wear a mask, gloves and long sleeves when dealing with mealworms.

@lisapierce1761 Жыл бұрын

I live in florida wondering should you have mealworms in a shelter or is it safe from pests outside

@tcotroneo 5 жыл бұрын

Best mealworm vid I’ve watched.. thx. What is the optimal temperature range for mealworms?

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

tcotroneo glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the comment 😊

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

tcotroneo I keep them in my basement, which is around 70 degrees. But the mealies make their own heat, and will move closer together if they need warmth.

@JustinAbroad 5 жыл бұрын

My mealworms like the 65-75 degrees. I caught mine wild and I think they're pretty happy. They were outside in the 40 degree weather

@joferraro2694 4 жыл бұрын

Ok, I use oatmeal and of course carrots. I've been a bit slack lately cleaning the bins out. I've noticed a lot of fine dust around the older carrot I got very few meal worms this time round and I'm wondering if that "fine stuff" was actually a heap of eggs. Your opinion?

@AutoNomades 5 жыл бұрын

Hello WelcomeBack Maybe i havent searched enough, but i still dont understand why you abandoned the self sorting system (im was going to build one try to raise large quantity ..) now you make me doubting.. Thanks a lot for your work

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

AutoNomades as my number of mealies increased, it was hard to sort out all the different components in the lowest tub; which ended up being a mix of mealies, pupae and beetles. If you are raising them for a pet lizard, self sorting would work fine, because you won’t need a huge amount .

@arielsarsalejo1344 5 жыл бұрын

Your video is very helpful thank you so much❤️

@andrewmcdonald7077 5 жыл бұрын

Hey Will. Are the five breeding tubs, and therefore (I'm assuming) five grow-out tubs, enough to produce a pint of mealworms every day to feed my chickens? If not, how many breeding tubs and grow-out tubs do you think it will take to get to this level of sustained mealworm production?

@patrickd9551 2 жыл бұрын

instructables has a nice tutorial and build plan for a tower system to grow about 1 lbs of mealworms a week. Pretty detailed if I say so myself.

@shawndoe2834 4 жыл бұрын

Not sure why the host didn't identify the green sifters right of the start for what they are. They are Gold Panning Screens and can be cheaply bought at Gold Panning Supply Stores or Big Box Sporting Stores as well.

@peymanshahriary3611 4 жыл бұрын

hi, what degree or temperature is suitable for drying mealworm? and how long i have to dry mealworm? I want to dry the mealworm with a fruit dryer. special thanks from you 🙏

@johnfitbyfaithnet Жыл бұрын

Helpful tips, thank you

@debrastone3536 4 жыл бұрын

Love your video! Learned a lot!

@timmeeuwissen120 5 жыл бұрын

Hi! Thank you so much for this super clear and informative video. I don’t live in the USA, which makes it slightly harder to understand which sifts I need to have. I saw you basically use two of them, one that basically filters all beetles, and one for the ‘big enough mealworms’. Could you tell me which sizes they are? Because man they are expensive here and I’d like to make sure I have the correct sizes. Thanks so much!!

@cerebral3591 5 жыл бұрын

Agreed, also wondering this.

@BlaisZeroni 4 жыл бұрын

Did you ever find out?

@metodkolc8776 5 жыл бұрын

Hey, I wonder how much mealworms you can produce from such a set up in a month?

@quinwalker6469 4 жыл бұрын

good question.

@anjhindul 3 жыл бұрын

That many bins? Not very many, enough for several chickens but not much more.

@catrionaduncan9802 3 жыл бұрын

I loved the video very informative, I have a small question, I noticed you stacked the containers with the mesh on top of each other. Surely they won’t be able to get sufficient air if these are blocked but maybe I missed something

@MintyFarts 5 жыл бұрын

Maybe I missed it but why do you want to sort out the pupae? To make more beetles? Are they too tough to feed to the chickens?

@cerebral3591 5 жыл бұрын

Hey, very nice setup! I was wondering if there's anything to update pros/cons? Thx :)

@clarissacolson4784 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your video. I am wondering what your investment had been to get to the point of feeding your flock on the mealworms?

@sophiagracecatubo 5 жыл бұрын

This is really awesome!!! Great idea sir thanks for sharing your secret😅 But just want to know if what is that bedding you are using?? And how much per sock is that? Thanks😊

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Cjay Marriott I use wheat bran, $20 for a 50 lb bag at the local feed store. Not sure exactly how much I use, I just eyeball it.

@UnisausS1 3 жыл бұрын

Have you come acrossed any of yer tubs having Mealworm (Grain) Mites ? If you did, what have you done to get rid of them, yer process of elimination ??

@topsecretaquatics6301 5 жыл бұрын

I watch a guy on KZfaq use an old minors sifter that shook, that might be easier one you go bigger.. maybe use like a paint shaker somehow but ide put an adjustable switch to slow the shaker.. just a thought for you

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Top Secret Aquatics cheers!

@pendopendo7166 Жыл бұрын

If the goal is to provide protein to the chooks, why not just provide it direct with meat scraps or animal offal, you can regulate that and even freeze portions for daily consumption. OR Put it in a bucket above the chook-yard with medium and beetles, cut the bottom out and put in mesh to filter the larvae from the beetles. Most people do this with maggots and wood shavings weekly, then toss the shavings into a compost pile.

@atylaeluno36 4 жыл бұрын

Hello friend, I follow your channel and I have seen all your videos, thanks for the content. I have several questions that I would like you to answer: How do you do the breeding cycles? Do you perform separation of larvae, pupae or beetles? Do you separate by sex? How do you calculate the production? What type of substrate do you use? The same for larvae and beetles? Thank you very much in advance.

@stuff2047 2 жыл бұрын

I’m trying to learn how to do this for my birds…what do you do with the pupae you collected?

@garygariano4952 3 жыл бұрын

What do you do with the frass

@timjung640 5 жыл бұрын

The music makes this video!

@RJ-iv6dv 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! What do you do about dead beetles in your beetle bin? Do you need to pick them out by hand? Or do the live beetles just cannibalise them?

@elijahrose7913 Жыл бұрын

@fancybirdworldnp9208 3 жыл бұрын

enjoyed watching video i just start mealworm farm to provide good sources of protein to some of my silkie breed

@jpw.8972 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video well presented

@anetteedland2003 5 жыл бұрын

Hello, and thank you for all the videos. I was wondering if you can tell me what sice mesh on the green sifting trays that you use. I can see on the libk that you can buy them separate. And with me ordering from Norway, the shipping fee wil reduce😜 hope to hear from you👍

@erinhearn3350 2 жыл бұрын

How often do you change the oats?

@Jack-ge1st 4 жыл бұрын

Your sifters are used in the gold prospecting industry and are called classifiers.

@Silvervalist 5 жыл бұрын

Very good video! And thank you very much for the links!!!

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Silvervalist you are very welcome!

@AlanBarrettVideos 5 жыл бұрын

Have you tried put bad meat in a hanging bucket with hole in it? This would attract flies that lay eggs. The maggots, then fall down, and feed the chickens.

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Alan Barrett II sure have! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a52VddemubbSiqs.html

@jonb6364 5 жыл бұрын

Hi. Newbie here. What does your cycle look like? I will start with 1000 live meal worms. After getting situated and set up, when do I do my first sift, second sift, third sift etc... all the way to feeding the hens? Thanks.

@ramonlarson6806 4 жыл бұрын

And how long to you let them breed before you harvest each time?

@PressureEd 5 жыл бұрын

I like the channel name

@Cheryl5022 5 жыл бұрын

scott also sells pupae sieve that fit inside the green sieve.

@MrJamespcastle 4 жыл бұрын

That is so true! As a matter of fact, I DEMAND that all of the FREE content be in HD! These FREE content producers who produce really useful videos, which show really useful information must get it into their heads that we lazy americans sitting on our couch getting fat DEMAND that the producers of content stop being so cheap and buy the newest HD video cameras! What is wrong with these lazy, stupid content producers? That is it! From now on i refuse to pay each video producer for their poorly made amateur videos!.....Oh, wait, the content is FREE. MORON.

@rsrand0mguy650 Жыл бұрын

What kind of bran do you use for your substrate and where do you go to buy it in that big bag. I feel like buying bran in bulk like that would be a lot more cost effective.

@samanthaacker2056 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! How many beetles do you recommend in each pin? I was tired of driving 30 miles to get mealworms and only half be alive. So found somwonw around who was getring out of mealworms and gave me 1500 mealworms. Now i have so many beetles and it seems crowded... I know over 1000 beetles for sure

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Samantha Acker I have a thousand in each of my bins, but that was a fairly arbitrary choice :/

@FusionDeveloper 4 жыл бұрын

Home grown mealworm can be fat and healthy and lively, compared to store bought. Just know that beetles seek out and kill pupae ferociously, so they must be separated as soon as possible.

@tcotroneo 5 жыл бұрын

One question that I have not seen addressed is why nobody uses a “wild” diet of dead leaves and decayed wood? These resources seem readily available and free. I’m curious why I don’t see anyone using them in mealworm farms. I just received my first 2000, for the same purpose as you, as a feed supplement for my chickens, and I added a handful of dead leaves that I broke down a bit into their bin and they seem to be eating it..

@777wins1 5 жыл бұрын

Thats a good question.

@shadowofjuniperhill 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, I have a home mealworm farm of about 18 bins and using natural materials like leaves would be great if I could but the reason I don’t is because of the introduction of other insects, bacteria and molds. I feed a varied diet but for me to maintain a healthy colony, the food and substrate needs to be free of those things. Hope that helps.

@tcotroneo 5 жыл бұрын

Shadow of Juniper Hill I see your point, but a healthy strong colony that provides optimum nutrition to my flock of chickens is one that can weather certain molds, fungi, and bacteria.. That resiliency will be passed down to my flock and in turn me when I eat their eggs/meat..

@peterpan1002 5 жыл бұрын

@@tcotroneo you have to give mealworms some kind of fruit & veggie because thats how they get their water. you cant leave water in their container or you'll get mold and the mealworms will drown because... worms are dumb..

@tcotroneo 5 жыл бұрын

Tentacle Hub understood.. my point was adding other elements (decaying wood, leaves, etc.) in addition to the feed and low moisture veggies.. I’ve added the natural wood and dry leaves and the worms eat and interact with the natural material, so I’ll continue to use..

@lorenaroma Жыл бұрын

I same to do a thing like that for my chickens too escape from predators underground in a pipe or something

@sjreynolds6881 5 жыл бұрын

You drilled an air hole in the lids, but then you stacked all the other tubs on top of each other, which covered the air holes lol

@WelcomeBackWoods 5 жыл бұрын

Sj Reynolds I switch the orientation of the starch at each row once I am all the way done, that way the air holes stay clear. Thanks for looking out 😊

@sjreynolds6881 5 жыл бұрын

Good stuff! Just set up my first mealie farm after watching your vids...Had been breeding crickets, ( for my reptiles)...I cant believe how simple they are to care for compared to crickets ......and No hopping away either ;)

@charitynhope2012 4 жыл бұрын

I see your response but do not understand what you mean by "switching the orientation of the starch?" I am getting humidity problems even though I have holes 1 1/2" apart all around the sides! I may do the screens on top but not sure how to stack them.

@jsmartin1300 Жыл бұрын

Great video! What brand of wheat bran do you use?

@SheafferSelect 6 жыл бұрын

Great channel awesome job!

@piximyn1910 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you get your beetles? Did you have to order them on Ebay?

@rknapier 2 жыл бұрын

How much money do you spend on the feed for the beetles? Monthly bill? Looks like it costs a little more than it would be to buy the meal worms. Thank You

@Holypikemanz Жыл бұрын

adorable chickens

@sheilapurvis6467 2 жыл бұрын

At the end of the video your chickens were coming out from underground. Do they have an underground coop???

@katblevins8736 2 жыл бұрын

I just recently purchased darling beetles and mealworms. Unfortunately the baby mealworms all looked dead. How do I know the difference between good baby worms and bad ones. How do I know the difference between good pupae and bad ones. Please advise. Thank you in advance.

@FknNefFy 3 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah although you have a good system and it’s pretty thought out, none of it is necessary. I know from experience I’m not just pulling this out of my ass. As long as they have a good environment with enough food they will not cannibalize each other they will be fine they don’t even need a lid on their tank just put them literally into a container with some oats leaves and fruit or vegetable scraps. Keep them clean and don’t let stuff get moldy or anything and that’s all you have to do. Corn/wheat tortillas And sweet potatoes/ apple work real good

@nickf8028 3 жыл бұрын

How do you sort the beetles, pupae, and larva?

@lamebubblesflysohigh 5 жыл бұрын

why bother with first 2 sifters is that third one is all you need to catch all of them? (first sifting for beetles)

@Nibbles2point0 5 жыл бұрын

lamebubblesflysohigh Maybe there are different sifters like that in case you want to sort out large and small beetles? But that is true, he could just use the one sifter. I guess he wants to test out the whole set 🤗

@sheepdogsherlock1311 5 жыл бұрын

He specifically stated it was for carrots and other food bits

@suzsan07 4 жыл бұрын

You wrote dates on the rubbermaids.. how long until you check them? Do the beetles not need a source of water? Do you use the frass as garden fertilizer or what do you do with it?

@concon9636 6 жыл бұрын

My Silkies are the reason I grew mealworms!! Never seen anything underground for chickens!! Do you have a video on that? 😀

@concon9636 6 жыл бұрын

I found the video! Did you figure out your problems on it?

@WelcomeBackWoods 6 жыл бұрын

I think it was either to small or to big. I have had to pull it out for now, and I am back to the drawing board. Thanks for watching!

@zahrakhodabande194 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 👋👋👋

@Submanca 5 жыл бұрын

Just curious do you know what the advantages are to feeding the chickens mealworms vs store bought food besides cost?

@autumnrohde367 5 жыл бұрын

Submanca mealworms for chickens are more of a treat, but generally you can breed mealies for so much cheaper compared to constantly buying food. Generally a full cycle for mealworms takes about 6 months, producing well over 500 mealworms when you only started with 100.

@piximyn1910 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you buy your sifters? Also, what do they charge?