Unsure if worms are alive
I received my worms a week ago through the post. The guy that delivered them jammed them through my letter box, I could hear him from upstairs struggling to jam it in for like 10 seconds. It even says on the package, "Fragile, handle with care". I open them up and see that the majority of them are not moving, but after a google search it says that they may just be dehydrated.
I decide to use them anyway. I put some soil at the bottom of the bin and mixed in the worms, then added some veg scraps and a small amount of water and covered with some burlap fabric.
I don't disturb them for a week and come back to check on them today. A lot of the veg seems to still be there but there's also soil that has trickled down the holes which to me, indicates movement, I also checked the moisture of the soil on top and it was bone dry so I spritzed it with some water. I used some tongs to sift through the soil to see if I could find any worms. I picked one up with the tongs and it wasn't moving at all, but when I dropped it back into the soil, it started violently flailing around. I'm unsure if this is a sign that it's alive or just a reflex.
I don't know if they're just a lost cause at this point and I should just try again.
Edit: I've just seen that a lot of them have travelled to the bottom layer of the wormery where there is no soil and gathered in a corner and died. Very sad. I can see a couple on the bottom layer moving around but most seem to be dead. Seems like they really don't want to be in that soil. Any ideas why that could be? I've just ordered some more worms anyways.