Meal Worms or Black Soldier Fly Larvae?

[cundare]

We went through a lot of sources, but the best deal we've found for good-quality dried SFL is actually on Amazon. 10lb boxes of Wormsking larvae sell for $50, $45 if you set up a subscription, and are often discounted. Free shipping if you have Prime. Smaller sizes, down to 2lb, are also available. We've been using them for years and have found these prices hard to beat. The birds go nuts over live meal worms, but these dried larvae are not far behind.

Details at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08THKHPSC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Oh, and soldier fly larvae supposedly have something like 80 times (!) the calcium of meal worms, something that is touted as important for egglayers.

No, I don't work for Wormsking!!

 

[mollygrace]

My ladies will eat mealworms, but they go bonkers for BSL. My compost pile attracts many black soldier flies and I live in south TX so fly season is like 10 months long, so in the mornings in bring the chicken poop out to the compost and when I turn it over I find a cluster of BSL and just scoop them up to bring back to the girls.

 

[Bawkbok]

We went through a lot of sources, but the best deal we've found for good-quality dried SFL is actually on Amazon. 10lb boxes of Wormsking larvae sell for $50, $45 if you set up a subscription, and are often discounted. Free shipping if you have Prime. Smaller sizes, down to 2lb, are also available. We've been using them for years and have found these prices hard to beat. The birds go nuts over live meal worms, but these dried larvae are not far behind.

Details at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08THKHPSC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Oh, and soldier fly larvae supposedly have something like 80 times (!) the calcium of meal worms, something that is touted as important for egglayers.

No, I don't work for Wormsking!!

Do you know where they are sourced from? The only information I can find is that they come from "multiple sources". That's a hefty price for my budget and I don't want to buy bugs from China but without full disclosure, who knows where they really come from. On multiple sites it references the "smell" - what is the smell they are referring to?

 

[Rick589]

what is the smell they are referring to?

To me they smell of toasty goodness. I think I’ve seen my chickens actually salivate when I offer them BSFL.

 

[cundare]

@Bawkbok

Maybe I don't understand your comments. The price I mentioned is by far the lowest quoted here for either mealworms of SFL. If you find that too high, then maybe larvae aren't the type of feed you're looking for. I mean, 10 pounds of dried larvae is A LOT! It lasts us a month or two for a dozen full-grown birds and another dozen chicks. If you have a smaller flock, 2 pounds will set you back a mere $17. OTOH, 500 live meal worms from Petco is over $30 -- for a tiny fraction of the same amount of food.

I've never detected much of a "smell," so I have no idea what those sites are talking about. Online reviews are often best taken with a pound of salt. Details matter. If I stick my head in the box, there's a faint dried-dirt kinda smell, but that's it.

These bugs are harvested in China, but I personally think it's silly to consider that a downside. China is the United States' biggest trading partner and without Chinese trade, our economy would collapse pretty fast. So good luck finding much of anything that doesn't have at least some Asian component. As for quality, well, here's my personal anecdote: In my youth, I used to restore classic stereo equipment. One of the most famous speakers ever made is the original 1950s Quad electrostatic, which was notorious for unreliability, hardware failures, and difficulty to maintain (no color coded wiring!). But when this Britsh company was bought and moved its mfg facility to China, overall quality improved dramatically without affecting cost. You'll never convince me that a product is poor quality simply because it is all or partially made in China. I mean, you can't simply lump together billions of people and thousands of companies. The Wormsking bugs are, IMHO, at least equal in quality to any other dried larvae I've tried. But to each their own...

Bottom line is that I've gone through numerous brands of live and dried insect feeds and the two that stand head and shoulders above the rest, in terms of cost and quality, are Wormsking's dried soldier larvae and Jadingsfarm moist canned crickets, both readily available on Amazon. I understand that YMMV, and that other products are certainly worth buying, depending on one's specific requirements. But that's what I've found.

 

[cundare]

To me they smell of toasty goodness. I think I’ve seen my chickens actually salivate when I offer them BSFL.

Hah! "Toasty goodness"!! That's a perfect description, the words I was trying to find.

 

[Rick589]

Hah! "Toasty goodness"!! That's a perfect description, the words I was trying to find.

Here for you.

 

[Rick589]

Hah! "Toasty goodness"!! That's a perfect description, the words I was trying to find.

Grandson ate one once (little guy slipped it past us),tempted me to want to give one a go. 6 chickens can’t all be wrong. Haven’t given in yet……but stay tuned.

 

[fsauwphoto]

I raise Black Soldier fly larvae and the only cost is a black tote which has holes( 3/8 to 1/2 ") drilled in the upper part just below the over hanging rim so rain doesn't get in. The female black soldier fly will get in thru the holes and lay eggs on the walls of the container or paper or rotting compost in the tote. You can start one with any wet feed or corn or just scrapes from the kitchen and paper scrapes. They only lay the eggs, and thus larvae, if the temperature is in the 80s, so if it is colder than that you won't get any. I just wait till the larvae(not the actual flies) are 1/2" or so and scoop them out as they tend to form clumps or aggregate in corners.You can find fancier designs on the internet to build or buy with collection systems so you don't have to touch them but I just go out in the morning and scoop some out throwing them to the chickens when I throw in the days scrapes from the kitchen. The chickens love them and what is left in the tote in the fall is really good compost or starter for a worm bin. I tried raising meal worms but couldn't keep them going and it seemed much more complicated( requiring multiple bins and transferring them from one to the other) than what I have described with BSFL.

 

[Down Under]

Personally I am not a fan of imported meal worms as some countries have very relaxed rules around what can be used to grow food. Making this has to be easier than growing meal worms, if you live somewhere cold maybe a small greenhouse or something over it to keep it warm:

This set up recycles the chicken poop while growing BSFL: