Raising your own live feed?

[cybercat]

Dang weather had not let me get on sooner.

Yuck hornworms. Not around here tomatoes are a cash crop in my area. Interesting idea though.

Venison now that is differnt. Have to check with those that hunt at local hang out if any have old meat in freezer.

Do not have a compost pile as we feed excess to chickens, dog and mice.

Hmm frogs we have and toads. Dog likes to lick them.

Do not know if chickens are eating them or not.

Black solider fly will look into.

Since hubby is getting his CDL I will have money to expand coop and build out buildings that we need. One will be use for growing live feed for the chickens for winter. Right now things are so over grown due to mower that was down chickens are having a field day cleaning up behind hubby mowing. We had major rain last night early this morning so they are worm hunting now.

 

[GardenerGal]

Toads are poisonous if chewed or pecked. Seriously. They have two large glands (parotid) behind the eyes that contain a toxic, milky fluid. Besides, toads are great slug-eaters and also eat other unwanted insect pests. They are a huge benefit to humankind, and I would not want to harm them.

Frogs (which also eat slugs and insects) can carry salmonella so I wouldn't offer them either.

My chickens keep the barn and run completely clear of spiders, sowbugs, pillbugs and centipedes that venture in there. They keep on coming in, and vanishing. Lots of empty spider webs I have to keep clearing out of the rafters.

Quote:

 

[animalover]

Someone on here posted about raising B. Dubia roaches as being far superior to mealworms. They don't climb or fly. I'm sure you could find it of you do a search. I just don't know about raising roaches, though.

 

[Camshaft]

Quote:
I'm from Cape Breton Nova Scotia and I'm a bow hunter and I agree with that law. My chickens freerange every day... even in the winter. What I do is put a small bit of old meat (any kind) ontop of my compost and in two days I've got enough maggots to keep my chickens happy for a while. They love them and you can grow maggots any time.

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
I'm from Cape Breton Nova Scotia and I'm a bow hunter and I agree with that law. My chickens freerange every day... even in the winter. What I do is put a small bit of old meat (any kind) ontop of my compost and in two days I've got enough maggots to keep my chickens happy for a while. They love them and you can grow maggots any time.

So what are the two of you saying?
Are you opposed to feeding trimmings from butchering and or old meat from wild game to chickens?

So this meat should be wasted? And one should go and buy fish meal from the store, even though over harvesting is serious issue threatening our oceans? If not using fish meal then Soy! Which for some of us has a long long list of problems associated to it.!

When I take game my family eats the the majority of the animal...BUT, I dont eat liver, heart, sinue, fat, rib trimmings and so forth. Nor do I suck marrow out of bones.

Is the marrow of bones considered fit for human consumption under Canadian law?. (I should be.. If one is starving you can survive from it!)

I understand laws to discourage waste... But laws that discourage fully utilizing a harvest are well.."not smart"...

The deer population in the upper midwest of the USA is huge problem. We manage for unnaturally high deer populations so idiots from the city can pick up a gun and a beer bottle once a year and tag a buck.. The price is serious overgrazing in forests, severe suppression of some plant and tree species, and now disease outbreaks in the herd. (CWD)... Then we have to pay to have the herd eradicated in areas effected.

I don't know about Nova Scotia, but mid continent in the upper mid west, things are frozen including the top of the compost pile from November through April at best case. This is when I need to supplement protein not in the warm months they can get their own bugs then without my help.

ON