Can quail eat maggots?

[catesquire]

So a fly got into my house

And the compost bin on my counter is full of unspeakable numbers of wiggling horrors

But having quail has rewired my brain, because my second thought was "...Is this free protein treats?"

So! Would there be any illness risk if I rinsed off a few maggots and dropped them in front of some ravenous hens?

 

[nuthatched]

I wouldn't, things like that can be toxic.

 

[Slothinc]

I would give them to my chickens without second thought, and without rinsing unless there is something toxic in your compost?

 

[Nabiki]

I have to admit, I don't know for sure. I would think that a few wouldn't do them any harm, but I wouldn't give them a lot.

I am kind of wary of the thought since flies can carry disease.

 

[catesquire]

Compost is just veggies and fruit, nothing more than a few days old, because BOY is this the season for flies getting in the house so I've been dumping regularly

Internet searches are saying there's potential bacterial risk, though. This is one of those things that would proooobably be fine, but there's no reason to risk it.

Sorry ladies, you'll have to find your own bugs to tear apart.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Soldier fly larvae: maggots. They sell this commercially! They are not toxic or likely to carry pathogens, unless raised on rotting meat or something. Just limit to a treat though, less than 10% of daily feed volume. Mine go nuts when a fly gets in the enclosure, yours will have a hay day!

 

[pac]

You say maggot.
I say grub
It just sounds better when you are putting them on a fishing hook.

 

[Finchbreeder]

The ones that are sold as bird food, have been bred on bran and cooked carrot to keep them "gut clean"
Some finchbreeders do this year round for their live food eaters.