Maggots?!?

[Bleenie]

2 days ago, when i found the new babies in the coop, i put a small dish in there for them to swim in until i could get to the feed store to sell them. a couple days before that I had put some stall pellets around the big watering tub in the pen, well i went to dump and remove the small baby tub today and when i lifted it up i found A LOT of maggots!?!??. They were not there when i put the tub in either!

Do maggots like the broken down pellets?
there was definitely no other food source in there besides that and poop.

my chickens had obviously been around there, the ground was all 'poked at' and they were all over it after i moved the tub too. this is the first time i have ever found anything liek this in their pen.

will eating the maggots hurt my chickens or ducks?

 

[cracking up]

Eating maggots won't hurt the chickens or ducks. That's part of the fly control they're known for. I think maggots usually are laid in meat or poop. Don't know what's in the pellets. If I see too many flies or maggots I try to find out what died - rat or mouse, squirrel. something the dog or cat dragged into the coop and hid.

 

[Bleenie]

I checked for anything dead but there was nothing. the water looked super gross but it was shallow enough for anything to get out, maybe they just kicked a lot fo the pellets in and they soured?

I hope the pellets arent the cause, i was thinking they would be the best bedding for composting

 

[Red Maple Farms]

Moldy feed is a possible source for avian botulism. The maggots will concentrate the toxin in their bodies, and it can only take a few toxic maggots to kill a duck.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/205400.htm

 

[katharinad]

You should always but something under water and food dishes to catch the stuff before it get all over. A cookie sheet or a large plastic lid can do the trick. Anther thing. No swimming around a food or sleeping areas.
Katharina