Thousands of Grubs in Compost ( picture and video )

[tom e]

I compost in two big pallet wood bins for shredded paper, food scraps, garden waste and chicken/ rabbit poop and shavings. But I also have a biopod that is inactive most of the year. When I see that the soldier flies are back after the cold season (not really cold here, but they do go away in winter/fall regardless in my experience, no matter what I do) I grab a bunch of them (or the eggs) from the compost bin and seed the biopod. From then on the food waste starts being redirected to the biopod instead of the usual bins. The biopod has a ramp they climb up when they are mature and fall into a collection bucket, which I just shake out for the birds. I keep some mature larvae to throw into the brush where the birds can't reach so that the cycle continues.

 

[Tivona]

I have yet to start my BSF bin but one of the things I really like about this idea is that they are self harvesting. I understand that they also will reduce blowfly populations in the immediate vicinity, partly by competing for food.

 

[tom e]

Partly by competing for food, but they also have a hormone they release to the air that signals to pest flies something like the following, "Don't bother laying eggs in this food, your larvae will starve, as we eat fast". So it's a bit of a double action in that respect.

 

[binders]

But I also have a biopod

Do you like the biopod? They are rather expensive and I was wondering if you are happy with it. I have looked into it but have not been able to find out what people think of it.

 

[tom e]

Right now I almost want to say that I don't! But that's not really fair, because they are seasonal (not the biopods fault) here and so I sometimes feel I don't get much use out of it- If it holds up for many years I'll probably change my mind on that, or catch me in summer when the larvae are just pouring out of it so fast, I feel like I've given too many for treats and end up freezing them.

_But_ if I were to do it over again, I'd try to build one instead. It is pricy and there are lots of really neat and simple plans out there, probably quite a few in this thread even.

 

[dalepres]

Greetings,

This is my first post here. I do not have any chickens or other birds at this point. I'm here reading up trying to learn all about them with the intent of having perhaps a dozen layers to provide eggs and a half-dozen or so each of ducks and geese for meat and a few specialty eggs. I live in a rural neighborhood - neighbors sort of close - but I have 2.68 acres, mostly wooded but about an acre clear where I would keep/run birds.

Aren't there a lot of problems caused by feeding an animal's manure back to it? Wouldn't the grubs be covered in chicken manure? And are only one digestive system away from being chicken manure?

A few more scientific journals or studies on the topic looked at using the grubs frozen, then dried, and then added to feed - and mostly to fish farms. The leftover digested waste appears to be an excellent soil amendment for clay and sand.

Any science or research based thoughts on the safety of feeding the grubs directly to the animals from which they were fed?

Thanks,

Dale

 

[aggiemae]

My compost pile has a grub infestation, I was wondering if the chicken poop I pick up from around the yard and dump into the bin every day is the cause? Though I have relocated the bin to a new spot we got the chicks in April and poop is the only new ingredient. I usually keep the compost on the dry side but accidentally soaked in about a week ago, the grubs (MILLIONS of them) appeared in the top few inches a few days ago. There is also an ammonia odor so I know the pile needs more oxygen and needs to be turned.

In any case I sifted a bunch of grubs out of the compost and mixed them with fresh cut grass and my hens spent the afternoon happily hunting!

Like the above poster, I was wondering about the chickens pecking about in their old poops. My question is can I just dump the mess on the ground to aerate it and, after to ammonia odor dissipates, let the chickens scratch and peck through it before turning it back into the bin or should I continue to sift out the grubs?

I am not squeamish about the sifting but I can think of better things to do if digging through the compost if it wouldn't be harmful to my ladies.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[tom e]

I don't know if you'll find a definitive answer to that, but lots of folks do recommend that you don't raise your animal feed on the same animals waste. I think they are just erring on the side of caution. I don't hesitate at all, because the way I see it, my chickens are already eating things that fall amongst their waste everyday when I throw treats out in the yard- as if I could stop them right? Remember as well that these insects lose their entire digestive tract when they are mature, so there really is not a chance of them containing much chicken waste in their guts.
I would not hesitate to let the birds scratch through the compost. They'll take care of the bugs for you. There is a chance though that when you lay it all out to dry up, your grubs might just crawl away on you.

 

[galanie]

I let mine go through compost that has chicken poo in it all the time. While I can understand the concern, if you've ever watched a BSF "farm" going, they emerge looking darn clean. I've read that any harmful microorganisms they ingest seem to be killed because none could be found in them.

I have raised both and I'm sad that my BSF farm didn't get off the ground very far. I loved them but they finally got overwhelmed with the other flies and I never have been able to attract them back. They aren't that common here anyway so I suppose that's the reason. I even "seeded" a bunch in a protected, damp but not wet place under the soil hoping to have the next generation and nope, no go.

I do have a mealworm farm and I think growing those is much, much easier. There's a thread here on mealworm farming that's been going on for a long time for info. Basically you can dump oatmeal in a shoebox and go for it. Give them a bit of potato from time to time, keep them above 70, and you're off and running. They don't have any odor either unless you dont' have enough ventilation to the container.

 

[aggiemae]

Thanks for your thoughts. Our beautiful Moran hen died suddenly a few days ago and I am feeling a bit protective of the rest right now.


I ended up dumping the grubs into three one gallon pails then leaving them in the compost bin. They seem to rise to the top of the pails and I mixed them with can damp grass from our front yard and dumped them out. The yard of out new house has been neglected for 30 years and is in the mist of a total redo so at this point is a 1/2 care of dirt dust bath holes and dead grass (in other words chicken heaven!) and the grubs don't have a chance to escape because the chicken run to now me whenever I get within 10 feet of the infested compost bin. I will give them the remaining bucket tomorrow morning and then rake the pile out for them to forge in the next day.

The yard is very dry right now but it will start rainiong in a few weeks and we will have plenty of bugs for them again and the ladies will have to make do with garden scraps and feed until then