Maggots in Chicken poop

[Shadowdusk]

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when I was cleaning the piles of poop out from under the chicken roosts, there were little white DISGUSTIING worms in it. I am pretty sure they are maggots-- we have had warm weather lately and the flies are buzzing all over. I so far have not had any problems with them on the chickens, but two or three of the hens usually sleep on the ground, under the other chickens on the roost, and I don't want any maggots crawling on them in the night.
Does anybody know how to get rid of or minimize maggots? Also, do maggots actually eat live flesh, and if they got under the chickens feathers would they start eating her?
Thanks for your help

 

[ashcons]

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-12/fly-strike.html


Ewww, ok, yeah I'd be more worried about maggots than I first thought!

 

[ten chicks]

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when I was cleaning the piles of poop out from under the chicken roosts, there were little white DISGUSTIING worms in it. I am pretty sure they are maggots-- we have had warm weather lately and the flies are buzzing all over. I so far have not had any problems with them on the chickens, but two or three of the hens usually sleep on the ground, under the other chickens on the roost, and I don't want any maggots crawling on them in the night.
Does anybody know how to get rid of or minimize maggots? Also, do maggots actually eat live flesh, and if they got under the chickens feathers would they start eating her?
Thanks for your help

Yes,maggots DO eat live flesh. Clean and dispose of them immediately. Clean coops daily to eliminate this problem.

 

[Beetlegreen]

I can relate

Once I went to go get the eggs and I found maggots under them

I almost puked.

 

[mithious]

Yes,maggots DO eat live flesh. Clean and dispose of them immediately. Clean coops daily to eliminate this problem.

When I was a kid, my best friend and I found a "sick" mouse and put it in a box. As we were watching it, it's side started to heave and out bored a maggot and then the mouse died, almost immediately after...I would be cleaning some coops if there are maggots present!!!!!

 

[Wednesday]

They could be black solider fly larvae. These are non biting flies that do not harm poultry or carry disease that many people, including myself, actually raise as a free source of amazing chicken protein. They also do a phenomenal job of breaking down waste such as chicken poo. You can google them.

 

[Shadowdusk]

I did google them, but unfortunately that's not what the worms are. I also googled maggots, and I am pretty sure that is what they are. I will try cleaning their poop out every day, and hopefully they don't start breeding anywhere else. There isn't much I can do about the chicken poop all over the ground where they walk.
Thanks, everyone!

Quote:

 

[Wednesday]

Have you considered switching to sand in your coop and run? It's easy to clean up droppings quickly with a rake, shovel and 5 gallon bucket. You can use a paint scrapper and the bucket to clean poop off roosts and roosting boards. With sand it takes me about 5 minutes each day.