*** OKIES in the BYC ***

[Ivyblaze]

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i have a buddy thats got some.. where are you located

I am in the Goldsby/Norman area.

 

[sixshooter60]

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Hi Kassaundra,

A friend brought my attention to this thread and I'm very glad to see someone adapting my BSF bucket using found materials. I'll be adding some options on my composter page for lowering the cost to build it using new material, but free is always better.

One problem I see is that the Velcro has gaps in it. When there is condensation present on the walls of your unit the larvae will simply crawl up and around your Velcro and out the vent holes. BSFL are escape artists! Even with a continuous strip a few will get out, but with that configuration you'll lose a lot.

I can't see your funnel very well, but make sure it's snug against the wall of the unit or the vast majority of larvae will go around it. The interface between the funnel and the unit wall is the fussiest part of this design.

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There is confusion about the protein/fat content of BSFL. Dried larvae are 42% protein and 35% fat according to the most widely referenced study I can find. The fresh/live larvae are about 17% protein and 9% fat according to information provided by Dr. Craig Sheppard, the owner of the Phoenix worm company. The calcium content (8155 ppm) must be great for chickens too.

I'm not certain about the science but I believe it's risky to raise larvae using manure and then feeding the resulting larvae back to the same class of animal. In other words I wouldn't feed bird manure to larvae and then feed those larvae back to birds. I assume the risk involves pathogens in a loop.

I love what you're doing, good luck! If you have any questions I would be glad to help if I can.

Jerry

Thanks for the info and clarification. I didn't think about the pathogen loop w/ the chicken poop, I'll adjust that to just kitchen scraps. And add more velcro. The funnel tube is attatche to the wall w/ more industrial strength velcro, but I can put another piece on the funnel itself to make sure it is snug against the wall.

Thank you for posting your info online, I would have never come up w/ this w/o your inspiration.

not
im not sure i understand about the pathogen loop your talking about.. they have been trial tests done on stacked hog pens where they fed the top pen feed and the pens under only ate the waste from the hogs above and they actually had a better weight gain than the ones eating feed. not sure i would want to eat a porkchop fron the bottom pen though..lol .. so i dont see what pathogen your refering to since chicken eat poop anyway...hoping you could explain it in more detail or perhaps a site about it ,,, thanks

 

[geedub]

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You're very welcome.

The larvae will always wiggle into any little crevice they can. I think that when they're not eating they're hiding. They shed their "skin" several times as they grow and they may need to stay quiet for a while when that is occurring. So, what I think you'll find is that they will wedge themselves between the funnel and the wall of the unit. The magnets I use are strong enough to keep the funnel in place MOST of the time, but it needs regular adjusting. I suppose doubling the magnets would help. Anyway, we'll see how your velcro attachment works. Please let us know if it's successful.

 

[sixshooter60]

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hey that dont sound like a bad hatch ... glad to hear it...hey Matt did your dad hunt blue dogs?>

 

[GotGame]

he did, but just around here locally...my dad only hunted for 4-5 years....

 

[geedub]

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I'm not sure about this either sixshooter, I'm just repeating something I've read and erring on the side of caution. Do chickens eat their own poop? That would seem to negate these concerns.

 

[sixshooter60]

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I'm not sure about this either sixshooter, I'm just repeating something I've read and erring on the side of caution. Do chickens eat their own poop? That would seem to negate these concerns.

yes pretty much so a chicken will eat anything that dont eat it...

 

[sixshooter60]

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i was asking a buddy of mine that lived in tecumce(spelling) for years if he might know you and he said he knew a guy around shawnee named Davis (cant remember his first name) that used to hunt some and had blue dogs

 

[GotGame]

I didnt grow up around here, wouldnt have been my dad...

 

[Kassaundra]

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I'm not sure about this either sixshooter, I'm just repeating something I've read and erring on the side of caution. Do chickens eat their own poop? That would seem to negate these concerns.

yes pretty much so a chicken will eat anything that dont eat it...

My response was in the same boat erring on the side of caution until I did more research. If it is safe I would love the idea of turning poop into protien, but I won't put the poop in until I have researched it just to make sure.