Looking for an inexpensive, high protein food source for your chickens that is quickly and naturally renewable? Why not start your very own maggot farm!
"Eeew," said the kids as I pulled a shovelful of compost out of the bin. "What are those nasty things?" I had to admit that all I knew was they were grubs, or maggots, or whatever you want to call them, and they were big. They were the biggest, most funked out maggots I had ever seen; at least an inch long. And they were living in my compost bin along with lots of other grotesque lifeforms. I tossed the shovelful of the vermin infested compost into our Catawba ConvertiCoops Brougham chicken ark and my hens sprang into action. Within seconds of spying their soft, grubby victims, the chooks were picking through the compost, piece by piece, to make sure that no tasty morsel went undetected. Giving the chickens their daily shovelful of compost became a favorite family pastime. 
I was intrigued by the chicken's gusto for the larvae, since I have been looking for an alternative food source for them. Scratch grains and high protein laying mash costs have practically shot up overnight from $10.00 a bag to $13.00 or so. Thinking percentage-wise, that's a significant increase in price. I starting thinking about growing my own chicken food. One fellow on an internet board I frequent posted about a man in Australia who was feeding his fish organically using nothing but kitchen scraps. Since fish are meat eaters and kitchen scraps are mostly vegetable, I read on. He has placed a product called a Bio-Pod near his feeding tank and uses naturally occurring black soldier fly larvae as his primary fish food source. He posted a video. I knew then that these were the same grubs that my chickens went ape-gaga over every time.
Click to watch video - entertaining how his chickens love these things
After a little research into black soldier flies, I knew that I was ready to become a world class maggot farmer. Texas Master Gardener Candice Hawkinson writes,
Black soldier fly larvae are scavengers and thrive on many kinds of
decomposing organic matter, including algae, carrion, compost heaps, manure,
mold, plant refuse, and the waste products of beehives. (Manure! I have plenty of that thanks to my rabbits!)
They have large and
powerful chewing mouth parts allowing them to shred and devour waste. These
gluttonous little creatures are able to digest organic compound before the
compounds have time to decompose, thereby immediately eliminating odor. The
black soldier fly larva's digestive system leaves behind a fraction of the
original weight and volume of waste. (Oh holy Hannah... no smell. My compost bins get a little funktified on a hot summer day.)
This non-pest
larvae converts the manure's nutrients into 42% protein and 35% fat feedstuff.
This conversion of waste into feedstuff is called bioconversion and,
consequently, the larvae can be fed right back to the animals or birds that
generated the waste or used as feed for fish or livestock. It can be ground up
and fed to earthworms or red worms for a second round or just used as compost.
The larva is dry, friable, and odorless. (42% protein and 35% fat? That would give me the best tasting eggs around!)
Sold! By throwing shovels full of maggoty compost into my chicken ark, I was throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The larvae have to be separated from the compost. That's where the Prota™Culture Bio-Pod comes into play.
 Click to enlarge  By observing the natural instinctive behaviour of the voracious little beasts (a key tenant of permaculture), Dr. Paul Olivier was able to create a composting bin that takes advantage of the larva's desire to move out of their food source to pupate.The larvae migrate up a spiral ramp, directly into an awaiting collection bucket.
Compare these critter's appetites to the finicky eating habits of earthworms. There is a world of difference between the two composting techniques. Wikipedia has this to say about vermicomposting: Although worms can digest proteins and fats in meat scraps, these materials can attract scavengers. Too much oil or fat can hinder the breathing of the worms, as they breathe through their skin. Worms are said to dislike highly spiced foods and salt. Adding meat and dairy products increases the difficulty of maintaining a healthy, low-odor vermicomposting mix, and is usually not recommended.
Acidic foods (tomatoes, citrus), starchy foods (bread, rice), garlic and onions should only be added in moderation. Large amounts of these materials can change the balance of the system.
On the other hand, black soldier fly maggots eat dang near anything... and right quickly as well. These critters can eat up to five pounds of kitchen scraps every day. That's over a half gallon! 100 lbs (12.5 gallons) of kitchen scraps will give you 5 lbs of compost for your garden, several quarts of yummy compost tea, and 20lbs of chicken food. That's about a pound of larvae a day from the residential unit. For minimal effort, your chickens get The Big Bucketful O' Free Maggots™,
and you get compost from any type of kitchen scrap (including meats and
dairy): broken down, processed, pooped out, and ready to spread in 24
to 36 hours from start to finish. 
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