Maggots or larvae for that matter

I can't believe that I read all this stuff about promoting
maggots and flies
Many areas have such disease threat from flies such as pleges and really would and should be watched carfully in your making so many flies and maggots
maggots cause the toxins in the chickens bodies

surely you folks know that the maggots if too many injested will cause botulism
this is from

Poultry Bacterial diseases msucares.com/poultry/diseases/diseases.html - 43k - Cached - Similar pages


Botulism
Botulism is a disease caused by the ingestion of a toxin produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. All domestic fowl and most wild birds are susceptible to the toxin's effects. Many human deaths have also been attributed to the consumption of food or water containing the toxin.

Botulism is not a bacterial infection, but a condition produced by a byproduct of the bacteria's growth. The organism is common in nature and is widely dispersed in soils. Ingestion of the organism is not harmful. It becomes dangerous only when conditions are favorable for its growth and subsequent toxin formation.

The organism grows best under high humidity and relatively high temperature and in an environment containing decaying organic material (plant or animal). The organism requires an environment in which all atmospheric oxygen is eliminated. The organism cannot multiply in the presence of air. Stagnant pools or damp areas with buried decaying matter are danger areas for toxin development. Botulism results after the decaying animal or plant material containing the toxin is consumed.

Decaying carcasses are a frequent source of the toxin, as are many insects feeding in the same tissue. The insects may contain enough toxin to cause the disease in any bird that ingests it. Since the toxin is water soluble, water sources may become contaminated and provide a reservoir for the disease.

The toxin is one of the most potent discovered by scientists. The toxin is relatively heat stable but may be destroyed by boiling. There are different types of the toxin; types A and C cause the disease in birds while type B frequently produces the disease in man.

Weakness is generally the first sign of the illness and is followed by progressive flaccid paralysis of the legs, wings and neck. When neck muscles are affected the head hangs limp, thus causing a condition referred to as "limberneck". Affected birds may have a peculiar trembling, loose feathers that are pulled out easily and dull partly closed eyes. Some birds (turkey) do not develop loose feathers or limberneck symptoms.

Because of the paralysis, birds are unable to swallow and mucous accumulates in the mouth. Fatally affected birds may lie in a profound coma appearing lifeless for several hours before death. Significant lesions are not usually observed in affected birds. Examining digestive contents may reveal insects, decomposed animal or vegetable material or other matter suggesting that the birds have consumed the toxin.

A tentative diagnosis can be made from the history, symptoms and post-mortem findings. As an aid to diagnosis, sick birds may be given water into the crop, kept in a cool environment and treated intravenously with antitoxin. Recovery of a large percentage of the affected birds would substantiate diagnosis.

Prevention should be aimed at eliminating sources of toxin production and preventing access of birds to such materials. These practices include prompt removal of all dead animals from houses and pens, debeaking the birds, controlling fly and insect populations and avoiding access to decaying organic material. Contaminated water supplies are particularly dangerous.

If the disease strikes, locate and remove the source of the toxin and separate all visibly affected birds from the flock for treatment. Place sick birds in a cool shaded area and give fresh water into the crop, twice daily. Mild laxatives may be used for birds that have been exposed but do not show disease symptoms. Epsom salts (one pound per 100 birds) may be mixed into feed.

Adding a level teaspoonful of Epsom salts in one ounce of water and placing in the crops of sick birds has been beneficial in many instances. Antitoxin therapy is indicated only in birds that have high individual value since the antitoxin is difficult to obtain and is expensive.

any other questions just email me PM
 
Boy o boy. What a bad idea...

Well I took hot water and bleach to kill them off and um, it was quite gross. The ones that made the bleach flood, to my dismay were able to climb the bucket wall. Next, I got a can of WD40 and sprayed the walls. It worked for awhile but the more vigorous ones were able to climb up until I sprayed them directly...

What a lesson learned. I'll just stick to my worm compost bin with red wigglers.
 
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I don't know anything about maggots but Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) can crawl up wet surfaces. If you have red wiggler bins you have BSFL. I have them in mine. The lady that sold me my red wigglers complained about them in her bins, she didn't know what they were. They are very common and talked about on worm bin forums.

BSFL are actually very benificial to your chickens.
 
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Sorry, I should have posted the risks of pest flies (house flies and blow flies) before posting about soldier flies. However, I would like to make a big distinction regarding different species of flies/maggots. As far as I have read, BSLF are more sanitary even than earthworms. That is, AFTER a collony is established to repel pest flies from the grub bin. BSFL reduce pest fly populations by competing with them. From my reading, pest flies completely avoid any wastes being consumed by BSFL due to an "info chemical" released by the BSFL, and probably also because they drastically reduce many chemicals that stink to us.
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I for one, did not know that. I did some research to see if anyone has noted this problem with BSFL. I've never heard of a problem with botulism, but what I've been reading is mostly from advocates who are selling BSFL (ie Phonix Worms) or their equiptment (ie Biopods).

Someone did ask about botulism in the following thread, along with many other questions. http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=130704&fpart=1 .
The users "thebiopod.com" and "GW" didn't respond to the botulism issue, as far as I could see, so I plan to ask here
http://thebiopod.com/forum/index.php?board=7.0

I see that botulism is also an issue with anarobically decomposing grass clippings. I'm going to have to find out if I should be keeping these grass clippings because I get them from the neighbors' green bins. I don't want to contaminate my soil.
 
I'm in SF, have worm composting bins and YES, there are BSF here. We get in them in the bins occasionally. I believe mine came from a batch of worms I received from a woman in San Rafael -- but close enough.

They're supposed to be great for chickens (as food) and a great (Fast) consumers of rotting protein .. milk, bones and meat.. which we don't really put in our worm bins.
 
I wanted to order some BSFL from WormMan. They say you can order by PayPal which I would prefer, but the only option is to "send payment". There are so many bad reviews of this site, and they don't respond to email.
 
Lumenos, if I needed to buy BSF larvae I would get them from Dr. Craig Sheppard's site phoenixworm.com. He's been researching BSF for decades and I would expect the best from him.

I don't know the man, but I've benefited a lot from his research and I think he deserves to be rewarded.

Edit: sfchixn, BSF grubs won't be able to break down mammal bones, and even poultry bones will probably take a long time.

Also, be careful with rotting animal protein. If it smells bad I don't recommend adding it to a BSF colony, especially if you'll be feeding the grubs to pets or livestock. Lumenos has brought this issue up with the BioPod manufacturer and myself and we are working on a set of guidelines to help clarify what is acceptable to add and what might be too spoiled.
 
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This world is such a dangerous place, maybe we should all just drink the kool-aid?



GOOD GRIEF....idle hands are the devil's workshop.

I also read some where if you live on a round sphere orbiting the sun that every 400 million years an asteroid may strike the earth......I wonder if the asteroid contains bacterium? What if I eat too much asteroid?

Everyone wants to be a naturalist, but seems as if nature is the demon?

Maybe we should seek refuge and build a sponge-bob square pants world in a bottle of clorox?

JIM
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