There may be as many as 10,000 grubs in one composting bin, so this source of rich nutrition is one on which you can depend for your fish, birds or chickens.
When you vermicompost at home, allowing worms or grubs to break down your food waste, your contribution to the food chain extends beyond providing nutritious compost for fruits and vegetables in your garden or on your farm. Using worm and grub composting for breaking down food waste to create fertilizer for your plants can also be a nutritious, cost-effective source of food for fish, birds and chickens.
New vermicompmosting technology uses grubs that live inside a grub composting bin, breaking down your food waste for an average of six to eight weeks. That’s when the grubs are ready to cocoon so they exit the bin via a ramp that is designed for them to drop down into a collection apparatus. It is the natural instinct of these grubs to exit the bin as they must find a sterile environment in which to cocoon.
If allowed to cocoon for the 10 days necessary to become adults, these grubs will become the black solider fly, a harmless fly that lives for 6 to 8 days. This fly has no digestive system so it does not seek food, meaning it also does not spread disease. Black soldier flies do not like artificial light so they tend to stay out of homes and away from people.
Yet as harmless as black soldier flies may be, instead of allowing them to cocoon it is in your best interest to feed your collected grubs to your fish, birds or chickens. There may be as many as 10,000 grubs in one composting bin, so this source of rich nutrition is one on which you can depend on a regular basis.
If you do not have fish or chickens to feed, put the composting grubs in a feeder and set them out for your wild birds. And if you have children, get them involved; vermicomposting is a fun, educational way for them to participate in nature’s food chain.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollyknit/475018996/
You can read more about grub composting at thebiopod.com
Robert, how old do chicks have to be to feed them grubs or worms?
Thanks.
Jim,
I honestly don’t know an exact date or age. I would imagine that once the chicks are large enough to start looking for insects on their own, they should be able to pallet grubs.
However, I do understand your eagerness to introduce them to grubs as early as possible.The high protein, fat and calcium contents of the grubs are great for growth in general.