Kirkwooder
Songster
If you have a queasy stomach you might not want to read any further.
Insect larvae are a great feed source and can be produced for free feed as well. Growing maggots at home in warm weather is so incredibly simple that it amazes me that more poultry fanciers don't do it. I take all my meat scrap from my kitchen, fish carcass from my fishing excursions, all my poultry processing scraps, and even rodents trapped around the homestead and use them to produce, free, protein rich, food for my poultry.
Here's how I do it. I use a 5 gallon bucket with several 1/4" holes drilled in the bottom. I put a couple inches of sawdust in the bottom of the bucket. I then put the meat scrap in the bucket and cover it with saw dust. Then I put a lid with just one 1/4" hole drilled in the top. I then hang the bucket about 5 feet off the ground in my chicken run. Flies will find the decaying material and lay their eggs through the hole in the top of the bucket, the maggots will grow and attempt to find their way out the bottom. I put a box, roughly 3'x3'x1', half full of sawdust under the bucket to catch the larva as they drop out. The larva fall into the sawdust and think they are safe. It doesn't take long for the hens to find the little wigglers in the saw dust and scratch them out and gobble them up. The sawdust will need to be replenished almost daily during heavy use. The hens will aggressively scratch in it, throwing it out of the box. Just scoop up what you can and toss it back in.
I have even used road kill for fodder for the bucket. The sawdust tends to keep the smell down, but does not eliminate it. Also be forewarned that other critters, including large black ones, will be attracted to the odor of decaying flesh. Electric fencers tend to teach them fairly quickly to keep out though.
I have done meal worms also, though they are much more labor intensive.
Insect larvae are a great feed source and can be produced for free feed as well. Growing maggots at home in warm weather is so incredibly simple that it amazes me that more poultry fanciers don't do it. I take all my meat scrap from my kitchen, fish carcass from my fishing excursions, all my poultry processing scraps, and even rodents trapped around the homestead and use them to produce, free, protein rich, food for my poultry.
Here's how I do it. I use a 5 gallon bucket with several 1/4" holes drilled in the bottom. I put a couple inches of sawdust in the bottom of the bucket. I then put the meat scrap in the bucket and cover it with saw dust. Then I put a lid with just one 1/4" hole drilled in the top. I then hang the bucket about 5 feet off the ground in my chicken run. Flies will find the decaying material and lay their eggs through the hole in the top of the bucket, the maggots will grow and attempt to find their way out the bottom. I put a box, roughly 3'x3'x1', half full of sawdust under the bucket to catch the larva as they drop out. The larva fall into the sawdust and think they are safe. It doesn't take long for the hens to find the little wigglers in the saw dust and scratch them out and gobble them up. The sawdust will need to be replenished almost daily during heavy use. The hens will aggressively scratch in it, throwing it out of the box. Just scoop up what you can and toss it back in.
I have even used road kill for fodder for the bucket. The sawdust tends to keep the smell down, but does not eliminate it. Also be forewarned that other critters, including large black ones, will be attracted to the odor of decaying flesh. Electric fencers tend to teach them fairly quickly to keep out though.
I have done meal worms also, though they are much more labor intensive.