Feeding Worms Bread | Guide for Crusts, Moldy and Stale Bread

Worms in healthy worm bins can be fed small amounts of bread. They will eat bread that is fresh, stale, moldy or rotten and break it down quickly if it is cut in small pieces. Bread should only make up a maximum of 10% of the food given to your worms. Cover the bread with soil and a worm blanket to prevent it from attracting pests and to help the worms break it down quicker.

Worms will break down bread quickly if it is older or moldy. Don’t worry if there is a small amount of butter left on the bread crusts. This won’t hurt the worms and it will be broken down too.

While it is best not to add large amounts of bread, it is perfectly fine to compost small amounts in your worm bin. This article will explore the best tips for feeding bread to worms, ways to break it down quickly, how to keep ants away and avoid attracting rats and mice.

Tips for feeding bread to worms

Worms will eat fresh, moldy, rotten or stale bread. They will eat mold and the bacteria that starts to break down the bread in the worm farm. Composting worms kept in a healthy worm bin can break down small pieces of bread quickly. Only add small amounts of bread to avoid attracting rats and mice.

Here are my top tips for feeding bread to your worms at home.

1. Cut bread into small pieces

Cut the bread into small pieces before adding it to your worm farm. Rather than adding a whole slice of bread, cut or tear it into strips that are around ½ and inch wide. You can add bread crusts as well but break them into pieces to make it easier for the worms to eat.

If your kids are not eating their bread crusts, save them for your worms. My small worm farm can break down crusts from 1-2 pieces of bread per week. Larger worm farms can process more, but it is best to balance the amount of bread added with other food scraps. Make sure that bread does not make up more than 10% of the food added to the worm bin.

2. Cover moldy bread with soil or worm castings

If you are adding moldy bread to a worm farm it is best to cover it with old potting soil or worm castings. This will help to reduce the mold growth and the worms will move in to eat it quicker. Soil bacteria that live in the worm farm will also start to break down the mold and the bread.

Worms will eat the bread and the bacteria capturing the nutrients in the worm castings. These worm castings will be rich in organic matter and nutrients making them a perfect ingredient to mix through soil before planting.

3. Cover the bread with a worm blanket

Using a worm blanket is essential if you are adding bread to your worm farm. The worm blanket will help to keep moisture in and protect the worms when they come up to feed on the bread. This will also help to deter ants, flies and mice making it harder for them to reach the bread.

4. Put a tight lid on your worm farm

Always put a tight lid on your worm farm if you want to stop mice and rats from finding the bread. Most worm farms and towers come with lids that will fit on and not leave any gaps.

Worm towers that are dug into garden beds should also come with their own, tight fitting lids. These will screw on and keep mice out. If you have made your worm farm at home form a Styrofoam box like me, make sure you keep the lid. Place small holes in the top of the lid to let air flow in but keep mice out.

These holes will need to be a few millimeters wide and you will need to make around 20 of them all over the lid to let enough air in.

Can red wigglers eat bread?

Red wigglers are great composing worm that will digest bread quickly. My red wigglers eat most food including bread within a week if they are given small amounts. Always add a few pieces and let the worms break it down before adding more.

Red wigglers are fantastic composting worms because they love moist environments, live in large colonies and break down food quickly. Big worm bins full of red wigglers will break down bread rapidly. Mix bread together with vegetable scraps and they will be gone in a week or two.

Will earthworms eat bread?

If bread pieces are thrown on top of your garden bed, earthworms will eventually eat them. It is more likely however that they will be eaten by other bugs, slugs and soil bacteria first. It you don’t have a worm farm it is much better to add small amounts of bread to a compost bin. It will break down and if you mix it through then mice and rats are less likely to find it.

Feeding Worms Bread | Summary

Composting worms can be fed bread if the worm farm is healthy. Feed worms small amounts of bread mixed together with other fruit and vegetable scraps to give them a variety of food to choose from. Bread can attract ants, flies and mice if you add to much, so add small amounts and wait for the worms to break it down before adding more.

Happy worm farming.