Bio char

seaofgreen18 said:
You realize your own mortality when you live with a person that old and has been through some of the things she has. Boy her mom was and old Dutch women from The Netherlands She came here after the second ww and Hitler's occupation of the Netherlands boy did she have some stories. Her dad was abducted by the Nazis and forced to work slave labor in Poland he walked all the way back to the Netherlands after they were liberated quite the family history
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Put it to you this way when they got meat they didn't ask what it was or where it came from and Thunder storms were her favorite that meant the Nazis wouldn't be bombing when it was storming out.
 
Your goal is to attract mature female black soldier flies and encourage them to lay eggs in your bin. These insects naturally lay eggs close to their food source. However, unlike houseflies, which lay their eggs on their food, black soldier flies lay their eggs near their food. So providing an attractive laying location, such as corrugated cardboard, is important. Any cardboard will do, although I personally would stay away from anything with a lot of ink and printing on it.

As for food, we use ground corn, rice bran, and wheat in our bins. We already have it available, and it’s less likely to attract houseflies. We also provide leftover fruit rinds, vegetables, and other kitchen waste. Experts recommend avoiding putting meat in your bin. As the meat decays, it sends off a rotting smell, which is more likely to attract houseflies. We personally don’t like the smell, so we just stick to grains, fruits, and vegetables. We’ve always had great luck with grains in particular!

Add food as needed, and keep an eye on the amount of food in your bin. If you notice it’s gone on a daily basis, add more. If there’s plenty of uneaten food in it, then hold off on adding more. While you’ll want to use leftovers from your kitchen instead of using very fresh produce, you also don’t want rotting food to create an anaerobic environment in your bin. It’ll attract maggots instead of black soldier fly larvae. It’s a balancing act, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.
 
Well wikipedia has a good article on meal worm raising it seems like a process but maybe worth a try need to separate adults from larvae from pupae and so on doesn't seem to hard matter a little time consuming I think the BSF fit my needs a little better seems like a little more benefit with BSF than the meal worm's
 
The idea behind a black soldier fly bin is simple: Fill a bin with kitchen waste, wait for black soldier flies to find the cache, and then you’ll eventually have grubs. You can also purchase live larvae, but I have yet to have a problem attracting bugs to my bin that deposit their eggs. And the beauty behind a bin is that, because of its construction, you won’t have to dig through decomposed food to find the grubs. The grubs will gladly crawl to you.

When the larvae turn into pupae and have finished feeding, they’ll have the instinctual drive to climb from the decomposing organic matter. By installing a tube inside the bin, the grubs will take the high ground and fall out the other side, where a collection bin will be waiting. Along the way, most of the decomposing material will have been cleaned off, leaving you with snacks that are ready for your flock. Seems a bit easier than the meal worms
 
@Stunger here's some info on Meal worm compared to BSF for chickens. Black soldier fly grubs contain roughly 40% protein, 28% fat, 10% fiber, and 3% calcium. The nutritional profile varies depending on what the grubs consume. The protein in black soldier fly grubs can help chickens during the molt, which is when a chicken loses all its feathers and re-grows new feathers. During this time, protein needs increase because feathers are about 90% protein.

Protein is also needed on a regular basis for maintaining various body systems and keeping a chicken healthy. Black soldier fly grubs can be a helpful supplement during times of stress or weather changes when protein needs may also increase for the flock.

The fat content of black soldier fly grubs provides essential energy and can actually increase the amount of nutrition that is absorbed from feed ingredients that are present at the same time of digestion. The fiber content of black soldier grubs is beneficial for keeping a healthy digestive system.

Mealworms contain about 50% protein, 25% fat, 7% fiber, and very little calcium. The protein, fat, and fiber content of mealworms can all provide similar benefits to those of black soldier fly grubs. However, it’s important to note the ratio of these dietary elements in each of these insects. Just because mealworms contain more protein, doesn’t make them a healthier snack option for your flock. Too much protein can cause other health issues such as gout or an imbalance in the diet. All the dietary elements of the snack must be considered first before coming to a conclusion on the healthier insect snack.

It’s also important to realize that the nutritional value of both mealworms and black soldier fly grubs is dependent on their diet as well as when they are harvested. Both insects will start to build up fat reserves closer to the time they metamorphosize from larvae to pupa. The later the larvae are harvested and dried, the more fat they will contain. The protein and fat content of the insects is also directly related to what foods they are consuming at the larvae stage. Every farm has different standards to growing insects and the types of foods the insects consume.
 
My chickens are not too eager for my fresh live earth worms which is unfortunate as I have heaps of them.
 
Stunger said:
My chickens are not too eager for my fresh live earth worms which is unfortunate as I have heaps of them.
BuzzzD said:
They must be too well fed!!! I watch my flock years and years ago have a feeding frenzy over a nest of baby mice!!! I had no idea what was going on...I lifted a bale of hay and all hell broke loose!!!
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😂😂
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Well Stunger I've been researching those meal worms compared to BSF and with the BSF I'll need an insect net or butterfly habitat for the adult Flies till summer then I can put the bio pod out by the chicken coop in the summer as long as I have BSF larvae in there it'll attract more native one to the pod with meal worms adults turn into beetles and they way it was explained to me was you need 3 different containers for those well long story short I'm going with the BSF I'm just waiting on a quote for the BSF compost pod you need ramps in your Compost bucket no greater than 45 degree's so they can self harvest or crawl out it's a cool set up I liked it better than mealworms and the BSF give more benefits to your feathered friends ✌️ just my opinion on the deal
 
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Nematodes, I like the way these are applied seem alot better than the water in kind especially for the worm bin because they just need to be damp to dissolve in the soil put in the soil about and inch or 2deep ,no need to drench. The nematodes are a time release gel you can see the them in the center of the gel cap let see how they work

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