can chickens eat Maggots??

[Aussie-Chook]

I filled a 5 gallon bucket with chicken poop from the coop, added water to make a liquid fertilizer concentrate and left it sit ... when I opened the lid a couple weeks later (to add more poop) there were maggots in there the size of Mack trucks! (no kidding, they were at least an inch long and 3/8" wide!!) Given these maggots fed on the chickens poop, would they have been safe to feed back to the chickens? (I didn't!!) I know chickens eat the maggots in cow/pig poop, but from their own?? Thoughts anyone?!! If yes, I will repeat the process next year (after winter).
Now, let me go puke at the thought of it!

 

[Sandstorm495]

Chickens can eat most everything and maggots are no exception as chickens forage for insects and bugs when in the wild.

Aussie-Chook, your idea seems fine. Maybe if you feel the chicken poo is not safe for them you should use something approved of? I personally would be fine giving it to them. If chicken poo were not safe for chickens to eat, it would not be safe for them to be scratching around in their coop, where they have pooped.

Chicken manure can also be used as fertilizer as it is great for fertilizing gardens.

 

[cutiepie960]

Hello,
Lila Ann here there are tons of MAGGOTS EWWW! GROSS! when i opened the trash bin & maybe 1 or 2 of them fell on the dirt in my yard & my 1 hen & 1 roosters ate them! I am fairly new to raising them so i don't know if it is safe for them they are WILD free range chickens who adopted me so i am caring for them as we speak. Can someone please tell me if it is completely safe for them besides digging in the dirt to forage bugs/worms. I ordered some freeze dried mealworms but they haven't arrived yet so i kinda feel bad for them not having their meal along with the corn mixture they are getting. Thanks for any info u can provide me regarding the MAGGOTS..

Much Regards,
Lila & the birds
Henry & Henrietta

 

[birdman4259]

My chickens love maggots. It's a good source of cheap protein for them. At this time of year my compost is full of maggots and they go crazy for them. Maggots only eat dead meat. So no worries there. In fact maggots and leeches are being used more and more now in hospitals to treat human patients.

Sandy

 

[cutiepie960]

Hi There,
Thanks so very much SANDY okay i will trust u completely. I also have another question if u can answer it. My Henry roosts on a weak tree limb & i feel so bad for him b/c he looks very uncomfortable while Henrietta roosts next to him her tree limb is more steady ever since i got them they have been roosting up there. My Henry got attacked by a dog & were surrounded by neighbors who have dogs so i don't want my Henry to fall & end up in my neighbors yard. I was thinking of mounting a roundish square dowel underneath that weak limb but i'm afraid if i disturb their roosting are they will go & roost somewhere else & they may never come back! I just don't know what to do b/c i know Henry is very uncomfortable. Please help any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone who will respond..

Luv,
Lila & the birds
Henry & Henrietta

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is nothing wrong with a chicken eating maggots per say. However some maggots may have picked up "things" from any carrion that the maggots have been feeding on.

For that reason I don't encourage feeding maggots. However meal worms resemble maggots and from your description of where you found said "maggots" and their food source they may in deed be meal worms.

 

[demylenated]

Be careful, maggots can cause "limp neck." It's caused by botulism the maggots can carry because of bacteria growing on the dead things they are feeding on. just be aware.

 

[RichnSteph]

I filled a 5 gallon bucket with chicken poop from the coop, added water to make a liquid fertilizer concentrate and left it sit ... when I opened the lid a couple weeks later (to add more poop) there were maggots in there the size of Mack trucks! (no kidding, they were at least an inch long and 3/8" wide!!) Given these maggots fed on the chickens poop, would they have been safe to feed back to the chickens? (I didn't!!) I know chickens eat the maggots in cow/pig poop, but from their own?? Thoughts anyone?!! If yes, I will repeat the process next year (after winter).
Now, let me go puke at the thought of it!

An inch long and about 3/8" wide? That sounds more like a BSF larvae than maggots to me.


We don't feed maggots simply because we don't have any. In the past when our compost bin was overrun with them we just let the chickens in there to thin them out.

RichnSteph

 

[mountainchickie]

Yes indeed! My girls love them and whenever I find them during fly season and I can get them to the chickens without touching them or any other sort of contact, the hens go crazy!!

Maggots... yum yum yum!!!

 

[quabok]

Also, maggots only eat decaying flesh. This is why they use them for medical purposes.