white worms in compost

[NCchickenman1958]

I was turning over the compost in the bin and notice a lot of white larvae and was wondering if it would be OK to sacrifice them to the chicks? I dont know what thay are and I use that bin for the chicks pen waste, can they eat it or is better to just let them be and not worry about some type of contamination to my girls?

 

[Beau coop]

um, maggots?

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

I would also think it's probably maggots. I am not sure if chickens can eat them. I found some in one of my pens in a pile of chicken poop after some very hot and damp weather. I did not want them to eat them, so I cleaned them out the best that I could and coated that area of the pen with DE. The maggots have not come back.

 

[NCchickenman1958]

they didnt look like maggots, they were pretty good sized about an inch long, but I tend to err on the side of caution and the girls eat better that most third world countries anyway so I think I will just let them stay where they are.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Grubs maybe? I know those are bigger than maggots.

 

[cybercat]

I guess you are doing a cold compost pile instead of a hot one. A hot one would have no bugs in it for it would cook them. Hot piles compost faster also.

 

[Roosterboy]

I didn't know that cybercat, thanks.

And yeah there probably grubs.

Either way i would not feed them to my chickens if only because you got them from the same compost pile that you put their waste in.

 

[cw]

why not, there is an article in backyard poultry, about how good chickens are in a compost pile, cause they keep everything turned, and there crap adds nitrogen,

 

[dave3877]

might be horse fly maggots. they get pretty big. kinda look like mealyorms. pretty nasy custo9mers. i have a few "yard birds." they mow down the compost pile and have ate just about every bug known to man. i dont eat thier eggs or plan on eating them they just have a nice leisurely life of eating

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I agree with sybercat.
If the compost pile was "HOT" you would have no bugs in it. When you have a "HOT" compost pile and you turn it there will be "steam" coming out of it due to the high temperature in it (up to 190 degrees) and the compost can be white in color....