Maggots for food

[Aceoky]

It's my understanding they're coated with antibacterial coatings making them the cleanest "worm" on Earth. That aside I have no doubt that many chickens encounter maggots "in the wild" that consume decaying animals, have for centuries I'd bet.
If someone is concerned it's simple to not do , I fail to see any danger with the practice .

Many folks here like to feed fermented feeds, I don't think the risk is worth it, that doesn't mean they shouldn't feed FF, just means I won't

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/botulism

 

[Aceoky]

From your link above

C. botulinum are a rod-shaped, anaerobic (meaning they live and grow in low oxygen conditions),

See more at: http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/botulism

Which is why so many foods should NOT be water bath canned but pressure canned @ the correct pressure & the time under pressure is so important.

The link doesn't say "how" eating maggots can possible make chickens sick, nor does it hint that all maggots can do so. Missing the low/no oxygen requirement it simply doesn't make sense (at all in my mind) exactly how maggots can transmit the spores ????

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Some maggots can carry the botulism bacteria. It's the Russian roulette of chicken feed. You just never know. The problem is you won't have a problem until you have multiple dead and dying birds.

Same with chickens eating earthworms. Those can give chickens roundworms. So I don't encourage it either. I do allow my birds to forage as they please. I think they make better decisions than I can, and the risks are smaller for problems when they keep moving.

If a person is interested in raising some bugs for chickens than crickets or meal worms are a safe route than maggots.

Your birds, do as you please. There's always risks to everything. It just depends on where, and when you are willing to gamble.

Botulism is a nasty deadly thing that I prefer to avoid if given a choice.

 

[centrarchid]

Botulism is not what catches my eye when it comes to chickens eating maggots from a carcass. What gets me is the fact that carrion beetles with warning coloration that associate with such carcasses are actively avoided by my chickens. The birds produce a response that I think communicates disgust to fellow flock members when the beetles are encountered. Many of the beetles harvest the maggots to provision their offspring. The nastiness, the beetles advertise with their coloration, could be coming from the maggots or the bacteria breaking the carcass down.

 

[Aceoky]

I took down the maggot dispensers , better safe than sorry