Anyone annoyed at the cost of their high protein feed should really look into this. The larva of the Black Soldier Fly will consume most nutrient rich
solid waste (manures, food scraps, etc.) and convert it to a highly valuable feed containing about 40-48% protein, 34% fat on a dry basis. They are
very efficient, 100 pounds of food scraps yields about 20 pounds of larvae (which are about 50% moisture.) 100 pounds of swine manure yields about 15
pounds of larvae. That means a 200 pound hog would result in 0.6 lb of larvae per day, enough to displace about 10% of his protein needs. The average
American throws away enough food scraps to yield 100 pounds of larvae per year.
They occur naturally from southern Canada to southern South America.
The larvae are self-harvesting, because when they are ready to pupate they must leave the decomposing waste, and fall conveniently into a collector.
The smell is minimal because they easily out compete other organisms and rapidly convert the waste to a stable digested form that can be directly fed
to earthworks. Their housing is extremely cheap and simple.
That last link has a lot of good experimental results using swine manure, while the second link has a detailed guide to building a 5 gallon bucket
composter.
[Edited on 6-5-2012 by 497]hissingnoise - 6-5-2012 at 07:39
Cut out the middleman altogether (the pig, in this case) and allow direct access . . .
Then solve the problem of the 'yuck factor'!
Yummmm? Pyridinium - 7-5-2012 at 19:36
Hog manure is about as "yuck factor" as I can stand, and that's pretty gross in and of itself. The added level of gross-ness proposed is pretty
gnarly indeed.
Cut out the middleman altogether (the pig, in this case) and allow direct access . . .
Then solve the problem of the 'yuck factor'!
Yummmm?
Actually we who don't eat insects are the odd ones out of the human population. Saw a TED talk with utilizing insects as a source of food and it gave
me atleast an insight and I am now determined to eat bugs if I ever get to a country where they prepare them as food...
Think of it in chemical terms and it isn't as "yuccy" anymore, lipids and proteins...
PS. Alot of those giant shrimps imported deep frozen from Asia that we love to fry and eat are fed up in pools where pig manure are the source of feed
to the shrimps, incidently the pig feed often is partially human feces..... hissingnoise - 8-5-2012 at 04:24
Quote:
. . . incidently the pig feed often is partially human feces.....
. . . incidently the pig feed often is partially human feces.....
Er, do you mean that pigs eat our shit . . . ?
Yep. Though this was a news article some years ago about the shrimps and how they are produced.
The reason why I bothered mentioning is that human feces are very high in undigested fats and proteins and as such it sounded feasible to atleast
partially feed pigs with it..
[Edited on 8-5-2012 by bahamuth]497 - 8-5-2012 at 19:14
Quote:
Hog manure is about as "yuck factor" as I can stand, and that's pretty gross in and of itself. The added level of gross-ness proposed is pretty gnarly
indeed.
The larva actually digest the manure into a relatively "inert" material very rapidly. Compared with having the manure fester in a pond for months, it
is actually a much less "yucky" prospect. Far lower amounts of odors are released using Black Soldier Fly larva because they out compete other
organisms that produce more odors.AndersHoveland - 8-5-2012 at 23:58
The larva of the sago palm bettle (rhynchophorus ferrugineus) are eaten by the natives of Irian Jaya. The larva are crushed into a paste, put
in a bambo tube, then roasted over a fire. Incidentaly, the natives also crush the pith of the sago palm and rinse with water to extract the sago
starch, their main dietary source of carbohydrate. Some Indian stores sell "sago" fluor, but it is often just tapioca starch.
