The Great Exodus: Raising Black Soldier Flies for Chicken Feed!

by | Aug 27, 2015 | Backyard Chickens | 6 comments

Eureka! A couple of weeks ago I experienced a great exodus. No, I am not talking about Moses leading God’s people out of slavery , although that is a very exciting read that I highly recommend. I am talking about black soldier fly larvae. Find out how to raise black soldier fly larvae for your chickens click here .

Black Soldier Fly Larvae coming out into the mouths of my chickens!

As I said in my previous article ; one problem I had with my black soldier fly bin was; during a rain storm there was always a mass exodus of larvae. This would normally be a good thing, except that my chickens were usually locked up in their coop for the night so most of the larvae either crawl away or are eaten by wild birds first thing in the morning before my girls got to them!

Well, the other day I was trying to cool off my animals a bit by running the sprinkler in the chicken yard. This apparently gave the black soldier flies the idea that it was raining and they raced out of the bin in droves to the eagerly waiting mouths of my chickens.

Sprinkler in chicken area. Yes and an old trampoline for shade!

Victory, sweet victory! I love it when I discover something great by accident, which does not happen very often. However, I have to say, I wish I had discovered this a year ago. I am grateful for this forum to pass it on so you don’t have to waste time and money feeding your black soldier fly larvae to the wild birds! I am MUCH happier with my bin now. I have caused this exodus two other times just to make sure it was fool proof before letting you in on the secret. It worked every time. Free breakfast for chickens that just keeps producing on it’s own, while I am sleeping. It doesn’t get any better than that! 

Please leave a comment. I love hearing from ya’ll.

6 Comments

  1. Jamie (@ walkinginhighcotton)

    This is something completely new to me. I can’t imagine trying to raise our own flies, instead of trying to get rid of the ones we have! Thanks for sharing, I’ll be looking into this more!

    And thanks for linking up at Simple Sundays!

  2. Dash

    Hi Jamie, Raising Black Soldier flies is the single most sustainable and efficient thing I have found on the homestead. I am glad to get the word out about these helpful insects. Have a lovely Fall out in the garden.

  3. Dash

    Hi Paul, Thanks for stopping by. I am having trouble opening your message but will keep working on it. Looks intriguing, so hard not to be able to read it!

  4. loriroseholistic

    Have you found a different winter solution? From the Grow Network talk, I gather you now just leave the bin outside and it picks back up in Spring?

  5. Dash

    I never found a way to raise black soldier fly larvea in the Winter. I know there is an expensive bin you can buy, but way out of my budget. So I have just decided there is a time for everything & a rest for everything.

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Dash

Dash

Hi there, my name is Anne-Marie, but my friends call me Dash from the -dash- in my name. My homestead journey started out with one prayer. “Please help me get nutritious, organic food for my family.” Wow, I was surprised how God went about answering that prayer! …..Read More!

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