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Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-13-2016
With the high price of animal feed, growing maggots is beginning to make sense. Maggots come from flies. When flies lay eggs, the eggs pass through several stages before they turn into flies. One of the stages is the maggot stage.
You can use the maggot to feed fish, chickens and other animals. I’m targeting fish and chickens but I’ll be starting with chickens.
Growing The Maggots
To grow maggot, you need cheap inputs like manure, kitchen waste and sawdust or rice hull. I mixed rice hull with manure (my layers’ droppings) in a bowl (let’s call this growing bowl) and added just enough water to make it moist but not wet. I then mix thoroughly and placed some kitchen waste on this mixture to attract a lot of flies. You can use soup, fruits or anything that will attract a lot of flies. I used my dog’s leftover garri balls mixed with soup.
Note: The growing bowl you used should have holes in the bottom so that excess water can go out. These holes must be small so that some maggots won’t escape.
After the flies have finished laying their eggs. cover the bowl with something and place under a shaded area. Protect it from ants, lizards, chickens etc. I used chicken wire to cover them and finally cover with zinc. The chicken wire will prevent lizards and the zinc will stop chickens. I placed the growing bowls on a raised platform. The little kerosene I sprayed on the platform will stop ants. In few hours time you’ll see some small maggots. Leave them for 5 days before you harvest.
Harvesting
Spread net over a bowl (harvesting bowl).
Place the maggot-filled substrate on the net. Spread it thinly so that they can’t hide under. Fear of light will make them to force themselves through the tiny holes in the net.
Mine were big and some could not pass through the net. This was because I harvested when they were 8 days old. This makes harvesting very tedious because I have to pick many by hand. Next time I’ll harvest when they are smaller, say 5 days old. Note that the older the maggots, the less nutrient they’ll contain – and the less digestible they’ll become. Young maggots, though smaller, are more nutritious and more digestible.
To prevent the maggots from climbing the walls of the harvesting bowl, dust it with ash or rice hull dust. I used rice hull dust.
Maggots like hiding away from light, so it will be good if you place something in the harvesting bowl where they can hide under. I used rice hull but later regretted it because I later have to separate the maggots from it. Next time I’ll be using a plastic cover, making provision for access roads they’ll use to crawl under the plastic.
If you leave them beyond 10 days, they’ll turn into flies and fly away.
Harvest was bountiful. It makes sense to do this large scale.
To process, I poured very hot water on them. This will kill every germs in it and makes it more digestible. I left if in the hot water for a while before draining.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-13-2016
I drain out excess water.
Then I spread it on a net to dry.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-13-2016
The best way to dry maggot is on a suspended net.
I’m looking forward to do this in a larger scale. Some people travel all the way to Songhai farm, Benin Republic to learn this among other things. Now I’ve tried it and saw the harvest, I strongly believed it will be profitable. Fly is free and everywhere.
Just thinking – In a war situation, isn’t this a very good source of super cheap protein?
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Ikowa5 - 02-13-2016
@henlus, thanks for dis priceless and resourceful info. Pls how do u know when d flies ve finished laying their eggs as u rightly pointed out in ur write up. Thanks
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-14-2016
I just leave the growing bowl open the first day. Just cover it with a chicken wire to protect from chickens.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Hilux - 02-14-2016
Awesome post! This will be good for fish farmers!
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-14-2016
Update: I finally dry the maggots under the sun. It took 2 days to dry very well.
The dry maggots weigh 109 grams.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Ikowa5 - 02-15-2016
Thanks for d info and update. How u not going to grind it to powder to produce mag-meal? Thanks. Expecting more of ur updates
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-15-2016
Before I do that I'll have a reasonable qty first, like 25kg.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Ada - 02-25-2016
Pls did u feed the maggots to ur chicks? I thought maggots are used in fish feed.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-26-2016
Maggots can be used to feed any animal of ur choice.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - poampip - 03-10-2016
hmm intresting
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - olajerry - 04-09-2016
Is the maggot sterile?
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Favour Uchechukwu - 01-24-2017
hmm very interesting how do feeding maggot affect broilers chicken
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 02-08-2017
I've not tried feeding them to broilers though. But if you can balance the nutrients you'll get good result.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - ajoke1 - 10-24-2019
thanks for this admin
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 10-27-2019
wlcm ajoke1.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-01-2025
(04-09-2016, 05:52 PM)olajerry Wrote: Is the maggot sterile?Yes. The hot water does that
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-01-2025
(02-13-2016, 11:49 PM)Ikowa5 Wrote: @henlus, thanks for dis priceless and resourceful info. Pls how do u know when d flies ve finished laying their eggs as u rightly pointed out in ur write up. Thanks
Sorry for very late reply. Just leave it for 1 day
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Farmqueen - 09-06-2025
The best part is that maggots grow so fast. In less than 5 days, you already have harvestable size. No other animal protein source is that quick.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - EcoFarm - 09-06-2025
This is the kind of innovation that can end hunger. Feed cost is the biggest enemy of small farmers.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - YoungAgropreneur - 09-06-2025
The cycle is amazing. Flies → maggots → chickens → eggs/meat→ money. All from waste that people usually throw away.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - GreenVet - 09-06-2025
This looks like a good side hustle for youths. Even if you don’t have animals, you can raise maggots and sell to farmers.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Techie Farmer - 09-06-2025
This is eye-opening. I’ve been throwing away kitchen waste for years, not knowing it could be converted into animal protein. Nature really wastes nothing.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - MamaGreens - 09-06-2025
The nutrient profile of young maggots is almost the same as fishmeal, except for calcium. That means farmers can cut down feed cost without compromising growth.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - FarmLady - 09-06-2025
This is really detailed, thanks for sharing. I like the idea of using kitchen waste + manure, since both are free inputs. Do you notice any smell problems? That’s my biggest worry with maggot farming.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - CassavaBoss - 09-06-2025
This is a gold mine if scaled up. Imagine replacing 50% of chicken feed with homegrown maggots. Feed is 70% of production cost. This can turn losses into profit.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Farm-sultan - 09-06-2025
Very interesting. If I can replace even 30–40% of fish feed with maggots, it will be a huge relief.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Manihot - 09-06-2025
Good job! You’re right about harvesting early. I also noticed that 4–5 days old maggots are softer and my chickens eat them faster. Older ones turn blackish and are harder to digest.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - The Farmer - 09-06-2025
I tried something like this last year but ants ruined everything. I like your idea of using kerosene on the platform legs. I will try again with that method.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - FarmKing - 09-06-2025
This is actually how black soldier fly (BSF) farmers do it too. Their larvae are even more nutritious than housefly maggots, and BSF doesn’t cause disease like houseflies. You might want to try BSF if you can get the starter colony.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Locus - 09-09-2025
Nice work. In Asia, maggots are already a commercial business. Some companies process them into pellets and export. We are sleeping on this in Africa.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Trimex - 09-09-2025
Your method looks cheap and simple. No need for big machines. That means even small farmers like me can try it.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - MamaGreens - 09-09-2025
This is something governments should promote. Instead of importing fishmeal, we can farm maggots locally and create jobs.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Kiwi - 09-09-2025
I’m curious: do the maggots smell bad after you pour hot water on them? Thinking of ways to process without disturbing the household.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - AgroInnovate - 09-09-2025
Some people fear maggots will spread diseases, but if you harvest early and process well, the risk is very low. Same thing with fishmeal anyway.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - ZeroWaste - 09-09-2025
This reminds me of black soldier fly farming. They even eat faster and cleaner than houseflies. If you can get BSF eggs, your production will be on another level.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - John@ - 09-09-2025
Do you think it’s better to use housefly maggots or black soldier fly larvae? I’ve read BSF has more protein and less chitin.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - SheFarm - 09-09-2025
I wonder if maggots can replace soya beans in poultry feed completely, or if it should just be used as a supplement.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Sendrix - 09-09-2025
Interesting. Does it work with pig manure too? I have access to excess pig manure.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Manger - 09-09-2025
Imagine combining this with vermicomposting (earthworms). You can have two sources of protein feed at the same time.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Danny - 09-09-2025
Thanks for sharing this step by step. If you make a video of the process, it will go viral. Farmers are hungry for this kind of practical solution.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Techie Farmer - 09-09-2025
A friend told me he mixes maggot powder with cassava peels to make a balanced feed. It saves him up to 40% on feed cost.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Derik - 09-09-2025
The beauty of this system is that you don’t need electricity. Just buckets, waste, and flies. That’s why rural farmers can easily adopt it. What are we waiting for!
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-12-2025
(09-06-2025, 09:08 PM)GreenVet Wrote: This looks like a good side hustle for youths. Even if you don’t have animals, you can raise maggots and sell to farmers.
Exactly. Some people are already doing it if you check facebook. But they raise black soldier fly larvae because it is safer and better nutritionally.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-12-2025
(09-09-2025, 11:57 AM)Sendrix Wrote: Interesting. Does it work with pig manure too? I have access to excess pig manure.
Yes. It works with all manure and food wastes
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-12-2025
(09-09-2025, 11:42 AM)SheFarm Wrote: I wonder if maggots can replace soya beans in poultry feed completely, or if it should just be used as a supplement.
It depends. Lets base on black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) because it is better than fly larvae. BSF larvae are very rich in protein (35–45% dry matter) and fat (25–35%). But can it replace soybean meal completely? It depends onq:
1. Protein Balance
Soybean meal has an excellent amino acid profile, especially lysine.
BSFL protein is high, but the methionine and lysine levels may not perfectly balance poultry requirements.
If used alone, deficiencies in some amino acids could reduce growth or egg production.
2. Energy & Fat Content
BSFL have higher fat content than soybean meal, which can affect feed formulation.
Too much fat may reduce feed intake or cause imbalances if not adjusted properly.
3. Research Findings
Studies show BSFL can replace 25–50% of soybean meal in broiler or layer diets without negative effects.
Some trials even report up to 100% replacement in broilers when the diet is carefully balanced with synthetic amino acids and other ingredients.
However, complete replacement is not yet widely adopted in practice, mainly because of nutritional balancing and cost/availability issues.
4. Best Practice Right Now
? Maggots are best used as a supplement, replacing 20–50% of soybean meal in poultry diets.
? For full replacement, you’ll need a nutritionist to balance the feed with amino acids (like lysine, methionine) and energy sources.
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - SheFarm - 09-12-2025
Thanks @Henlus
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-12-2025
(09-09-2025, 11:12 AM)John@ Wrote: Do you think it’s better to use housefly maggots or black soldier fly larvae? I’ve read BSF has more protein and less chitin.
Definitely, bsf is better
RE: Growing Maggot for Animal Feed: My Little Experiment - Henlus - 09-12-2025
(09-09-2025, 10:27 AM)Kiwi Wrote: I’m curious: do the maggots smell bad after you pour hot water on them? Thinking of ways to process without disturbing the household.
The manure and food waste may smell, but not the maggots