There is no way someone with the amount of orders we receive could count them all. To count 1,000 red wigglers will take 2.5 to 3 hours as I have done it numerous times before. The only reason I offer some by the count is that is the way I raise them. For instance, when an African nightcrawler reaches 10 weeks old, I can place in a bin holding 275 to allow for a little loss over the next 5 1/2 months. Usually I end up shipping 260 + counts on the African nightcrawlers.

As for the peat moss, it is not to save on shipping costs as we mainly use flat rate boxes, hence the weight does not make a difference. Quite to the contrary as our castings are a free by product where as we purchase sphagnum peat moss, hence to ship this way cost us more money. The dry medium is used for most worms as it better insulates them against cold and warm weather.

In the extreme cold and warm weather, there is actually more shipping shock using a damp medium such as castings. When the box for instance heats up during the transit in the back of a truck, it becomes a sauna, hence can easily bake the worms or at least shock them further.

Bruce

It is not whether you count the individual worms or weigh them out; it is the principle of giving the customer what they ordered. Organic Worm Farm always adds a little extra in each order to insure the customer gets what they ordered.

As for policing the industry, I agree it is a shame as there are too many unscrupulous red worm dealers, however I do not see anything changing in the industry. I recommend one use a reputable vendor as once you do, you will see the difference in the quality and quantity of the worms!

One thing that may assist is a new forum we recently started, The Worm Expert. If you have a problem with a particular vendor, list it there. Being we have a large presence in the industry, we can try to assist in getting your order rectified either via refund or re-shipment of the original order. I do not guarantee we can make headway, however for the most part; we have assisted several others successfully!

Bruce Galle

Red Worms is actually a broad term specifying a number or worms. So in short if someone is offering red worms, you need to ask specifically which type.

You can get red wiggler worms from Organic Worm Farm with starter packages from just $12.95!

Bruce

Welcome to Organic Worm Farm.

Nothing towards you as your counts maybe accurate, however in reality I have found more inaccurate orders by other competitors when sold by the count. Yes we do order from competitors and even use some “Secret Shoppers” to make purchases as well so as not to give ourselves away.

To actually count worms, especially the smaller ones take quite a bit of time. I know from my conversations with others in the industry, many competitors use migrant workers to count worms to help keep cost down.

There are some different reasons for selling by the count such as our African Nightcrawlers. Unlike Red Wiggler Worms, which mature in approximately 90 days to adult breeders, the Africans take approximately 8 months to mature to adult breeder size. Hence they are kept in breeder bins which start out holding close to 300 worms. By the time they finish maturing there will be some loss as we screen each container every two weeks, natural causes… On average we end up with 262 African Nightcrawlers per breeder bin when all is said and done.

These are easier to count at this point due to their size. So when we state 250 African Nightcrawlers, there is at least this many usually with a number of extra worms.

Also our Alabama Jumpers are sold by the one thousand counts due to the time it takes to dig them up. They do require a lot more room to multiply efficiently. Also they are a good size worm, hence easy to count.

I have tried raising Alabama Jumpers in breeder bins, however found the cocoon laying ratio was far surpassed by those raised outside in fields.

Other than that, I highly recommend purchasing by the pound.

Most importantly, I recommend using a reputable worm farm such as Organic Worm Farm when ordering your worms, hence eliminating any hassles of being shorted on your order!

Bruce