Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae offer an alternative protein source for poultry and pigs that is easily cultivable, more sustainable and contains great nutritional benefits for your animals.
Insect farming is an efficient and sustainable solution to feed your flock with healthy meals made of waste products. Get more details from MIGHTi.
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1. Mealworms
Mealworms are an increasingly popular choice among backyard chicken owners. This larval stage of the darkling beetle provides your flock with high-quality proteins, vitamins and minerals. Mealworms can be fed either dry or mixed into food sources like bread stales carrots apples potatoes to prevent their rotting away and mold development. You will need to monitor them closely to avoid spoilage.
MIGHTi and the LAND Project are investigating whether cultivating insects such as Tenebrio molitor beetles and black soldier fly (BSF) larvae (Hermetia illucens) as sources of dietary protein for poultry in South Africa is viable as an affordable, sustainable and more eco-friendly alternative to commercially produced poultry feed. These insects are easy to cultivate and could provide more sustainable, less expensive solutions.
2. Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Larvae
Black soldier fly larvae provide a versatile source of protein and can easily be raised on organic waste materials, transforming waste into high-value proteins as well as other valuable biomass such as lipids, peptides, amino acids, chitin and vitamins.
These larvae can serve as an effective replacement for soybeans and fish meal in poultry feed, providing a higher level of protein that increases egg production while simultaneously decreasing antibiotic use in birds, contributing to overall gut health benefits and improving their eggshell quality.
Frass, the waste product from BSFs, can also be used as an organic fertilizer – unlike many insects they don’t bite or sting!
3. Mosquitoes
A mosquito is an annoying bloodsucking pest and carrier of dangerous diseases. While you might frown upon insect farming, an enterprising team from Agricultural Research Service scientists are working on turning things around by making these troublesome bugs the food source for other creatures.
Studying according to Edward Odum’s principles, researchers discovered that using black soldier fly (BSFL) larvae as an alternative protein source in low-protein poultry feeds produces over twice as much biomass per unit of land area as traditional soybean meal; further reducing greenhouse gas emissions and recycling waste nutrients.
BSFL larvae are easy to cultivate. Simply combine dry leaves, weeds, kitchen scraps and rotten food in a container outside your chicken yard with dry leaves or weeds in order to attract flies that lay eggs quickly. Once ready to consume them simply add 1 cup daily as an excellent source of phosphorus- and sulphur-containing amino acids for consumption by your flock.
4. Other Insects
Multiple insect species have the potential to feed poultry, such as black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens), housefly maggots, and domesticated silkworms. Wageningen University Research reports that these insects possess great industrial-scale feed production potential and could replace ingredients like soybean meal and fishmeal as sources for animal nutrition.
Soy beans are one of the most widely consumed feeds, yet its production requires extensive areas and leads to deforestation. Relying on insects as an alternative option provides sustainable agriculture while increasing productivity.
Many chicken enthusiasts are familiar with feeding worms, beetles and other insects found in the garden or coop to their flock as an organic way of supplementing its diet. Unfortunately, this method often results in intestinal parasites and labor intensive operations for backyard operations – that’s why Better Origin created the X1 automated insect minifarm to make nourishing insect feed more easily produced for use by your flock.
