[agingchick]

Hi my son has brought home some maggots that they used in biology are they ok to give to my chooks.

[Aunt Sally]

As long as they are not coloured ones but just white (cream) they will be fine for your chooks :!:

[agingchick]

they have had some fish food put on them for colour

[Aunt Sally]

they have had some fish food put on them for colour

What do you mean  :?:

Who did it  :?:

[agingchick]

the kids in the class doing what ever they do to live maggots in a biology lesson. they are white with pink/red grains around them

[Aunt Sally]

If  they let the children do it then it's going to be safe.  Get rid of the grains (I guess they're to feed the maggots) and give the maggots to the chooks (not too many at a time).

[agingchick]

thanks I will get the boys to wash them not to keen on touching them my self

[Bodger]

No !
Google a condition called ' limber  neck' and this will explain why it isn't a good idea.

[Aunt Sally]

I'll google that Bodger.   Munty feeds his chooks on maggots  :!:

[Aunt Sally]

Ah Botulism - just reading about it.

[jack russell]

:shock: So do I.  Every since i read  munty's post on road kill in a bucket.
I think its a good idea, and never though of any risk to health.

Mine eat everything bar nettles

[Aunt Sally]

Just read that:

 Toxin is elaborated in dead carcasses after postmortem release of the organism from the gut. Maggots acquire toxin from carcass tissues and, when eaten by scavenging poultry, serve as a source of neurotoxin.

It would seem that if the maggots have fed on a carcass that had been infected with botulism the toxin can be absorbed by the maggots and then ingested by the hens.  

It's unlikely that such meat would be used by commercial producers I would have thought.  Health and safety being what it is today. So it's another case of make your own decision.  

I'd give Worsel a few in his breakfast muesli just to check    

[muntjac]

i give mine maggots from fresh roadkill by hanging the carcase up in the runs and also shot rabbits  i put them in a bucket upside down and let the flies do thier work  the maggots fall and the chucks grab them i have had my birds sit waiting for them to fall    incidently it was a thing we did when rearing baby pheasants etc when a kid ,never had any probs with it,  wild birds wil take great pleasure in hanging around a carcase picking of the maggots . the food colouring is carottene for red maggots so dont worry about it ,the grain bran is for keeping the maggots from sweating ..and the sides of the container getting damp and the maggots crawling out  

[Mr Chookles]

When I go fishin I always ask for my maggots in ground maize,it to stops them from sweating and escaping  :shock: