maggots as chicken feed

[Paul Wheaton]

I held off a day on uploading this. Talking about feeding maggots to chickens didn't seem appropriate for christmas day.

http://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/0/RXWbBC1kQ24

[tinknal]

A lot of folks just hang the dead critter up.

I spread a hog skin on the ground in warm weather and turn it over every day or so.

[TxMex]

IMO feeding earthworms is easier and much less stinky.

[Beeman]

Chickens are scavengers just like vultures and such. They can pretty much eat anything.

[pancho]

Many years this was a common practice. Maggots are a great source of protein. They can also be very deadly. The practice was stopped when people began to notice some of their chickens were dying after eating maggots. I believe they called it limber neck back then.

[wolffeathers]

We tried hat here, filled a couple of five gallon buckets with carcass and then hung them up for the chickens to collect the falling maggots. They did and they enjoyed the maggots that fell, so much so that the chickens would constantly hang out under the buckets waiting and scratching.

Soon I had chickens running around with "stuff" on their backs and the whole flock smelled of death. I made sure to stay clear of walking under the buckets myself. The trouble came when other animals wanted access to the 'good stuff' and started digging under the chicken's run. Fearing the animals digging under would be dissapointed they couldn't reach the buckets, would substitute the death smelling chickens instead.

The buckets didn't put off too much odor, it was the drainage that fell on the chickens that made you want to gag when you went to collect eggs.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by pancho

Many years this was a common practice. Maggots are a great source of protein. They can also be very deadly. The practice was stopped when people began to notice some of their chickens were dying after eating maggots. I believe they called it limber neck back then.

I think the problem was botulism. I also believe that if you avoid fish products it is not such a problem.

[salmonslayer91]

instead of rotting flesh which Will just be nasty plus unsightly fill a bucket up with dry dog food fill it with water so that its all puffed up and soft but not sitting in water leave it out in the shade on a hot summer day and you will have thousands of maggots in no time plus then you can just scoop them out onto the ground with out any nasty's

discoverd this works magic when the dog bowel was left outside rained on and dried when we went on vacation i was amazed at the quantity of maggots in the bowel !

[rambler]

I've no real issue with this either way.

Just remember:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38922052...h-food_safety/

Such a feed source was considered one of the major sins of the 'big ag indusrty' and a cause for shutting down a couple of egg producers.

One better think twice before putting onself in the same limelight?

--->Paul

[||Downhome||]

Originally Posted by tinknal

I think the problem was botulism. I also believe that if you avoid fish products it is not such a problem.

its more grain that causes the botulism in my research.

like anything though you loose a bit of something every step of a process its call efficiency and is along the conservation of energy law/rule.

you be ahead to feed the offal,carcass,butcher waste direct to the end consumer if possible. I can see if its so far gone you might not want to but one
account i read the guy was getting carcass from a trapping neighbor, in my mind I envision those being fresh enough to be fed direct. I also think that was the first account of the maggot bucket feeder on line.

the one that you need to look at is black soldier flies, there was a post recently started in the poultry board. lots of info also on line and lots of interest.

they are not even remotely similar to house flies. the larvae secrete a anti biologic that also repels other fly species. high in protein and fat.

eat most any organic in a decomposing state, are able to live in a enviroment that many other could not, the left overs are a suitable feed stuff for worms.
yet another source of food for the down line consumers.

and as I pointed out earlier you best to feed direct if possible, much of what these guys consume is not a suitable feed stuff for the down line farm critters. think of them as a nutrient concentrator rather then a end user.

[Paul Wheaton]

Originally Posted by pancho

Many years this was a common practice. Maggots are a great source of protein. They can also be very deadly. The practice was stopped when people began to notice some of their chickens were dying after eating maggots. I believe they called it limber neck back then.

I think this is one of those times when somebod says "citation needed" - which I always thought was really rude.

So I want to ask: do you, by any chance, have a favorite link about this? I'm kinda curious about how probelematic it might be and if there could be ways to mitigate it.

[pancho]

Originally Posted by Paul Wheaton

I think this is one of those times when somebod says "citation needed" - which I always thought was really rude.

So I want to ask: do you, by any chance, have a favorite link about this? I'm kinda curious about how probelematic it might be and if there could be ways to mitigate it.

Why then do you choose to be rude?

I am not in the habit of doing research for others. I can share info I have, mainly through trial and error, that might save someone else from making a mistake. You are free to do the research, make your own decisions, go by trial and error, or just repost things that sound good to you.

[||Downhome||]

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...m/bc/71719.htm

from link above,

"These fly larvae have also been associated with toxic effects in chickens. Botulism (Botulism: Introduction), also known as limberneck in chickens, has been associated with ingestion of large numbers of larvae of Lucilia caesar , Phaenicia sericata , and other species of flies. Clostridium botulinum multiplies in carrion, where it may be picked up by fly larvae breeding in that medium and then passed on to chickens that eat the maggots. Dead animals should be speedily and safely disposed of, preferably by incineration."

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/art...s-Maggots.html

again from link above

"On one occasion, I cycled through the maggot buckets offal from chickens (from a buddy who came over to share my equipment) that had not been properly starved—their crops were filled with feed, which may have soured and supported the growth of Clostridium botulinum (the microbe that produces botulinum toxin). In another, I put a couple of groundhogs into the buckets that had been sitting around perhaps too long—maybe the C. botulinum had had longer to get a start, than it would have if I were using fresher carcasses."

[||Downhome||]

exchange of ideas sometime involves providing proof, to further the ideas acceptance.
just part of the process pancho , sometime you have to back up what you say.

[salmonslayer91]

thank you for the link downhomw and also i completely agree sometimes you gotta prove what you say that is unless you state it was from your own experiences.

oh and pancho i dont think paul wheaton wasn't trying to be rude but in that instance we all were kind of wondering the same thing where can i learn more i think he said it in a very non offensive manner but that was my interpretation

[salmonslayer91]

from the second link provided


There is a condition the old-timers called “limberneck,” which turns out to be paralysis caused by botulin poisoning. My friends who warned me about limberneck insisted that it could be caused by maggots ingested by chickens from any source. However, in all the links they sent, the references actually described the condition associated only with spilled feed which had become wet, had soured and begun working with maggots, and then been consumed by the birds

view the second link as it explains quite alot in layman's terms from real world experience i would trust this guy as it seems he defiantly knows what he is doing and also cautions that others have cautioned against it!

[the mama]

Too much of any good thing, can be bad.

[highlands]

Originally Posted by ||Downhome||

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...m/bc/71719.htmDead animals should be speedily and safely disposed of, preferably by incineration.

The new recommendation is to compost. Greener and recovers the nutrients for the farm.

See:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2010/06/bigun-tusks.html

and follow through the links. There is one from the VT Dept of Ag on livestock mortalities.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

[||Downhome||]

well I wont argue with that too much, I would feel safer should it be diseased or unknown cause of death to go the other route, if you know cause of death different matter. of course should I know cause and there is no risk to my animals I would most likely directly feed.

virus's do not normally last to long after a host's death but bacteria can and there are also prions which seem to exist long after the host.

[pancho]

Originally Posted by ||Downhome||

exchange of ideas sometime involves providing proof, to further the ideas acceptance.
just part of the process pancho , sometime you have to back up what you say.

Don't you think the person who started the post should have researched it a little better before posting?