Fresh poultry
droppings are collected from poultry farm. The poultry droppings (substrate)
are heaped in concrete tanks of a particular size (E.g. 1m by 1m by 0.8m) and
sprinkled with water twice daily. The tanks are to be protected from direct sunlight.
Flies (house fly M. domestica) are attracted to lay eggs on the substrate.
Small worms are observed after 24-48hrs. These worms develop into maggots and
are cropped after four days. Minimal temperature of 300C or more is
required for maggot production. The wetting method described by Feldmann-musham
(1944) is used to harvest the maggots. This is achieved by placing a dish of
water in the middle of the manure after wetting the surroundings of the dish
and leaving it foe about 30 minutes. The maggots crawl out of the corners of
the tank and interior of the manure towards the wet area. The floatation method
especially described
by Calvert, martin and Morgan (1969) can still be used for
harvesting maggots.
FLY ATTRACTANTS
It includes animal manure like pig
and poultry wastes, animal offal from abattoir, lizards, birds, rats, and other
animals. Thus decaying fruits like mangoes, pineapples etc. are good
attractants.
PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF MAGGOTS
The harvested maggots are placed in
a sieve half-dipped in a bucket of clean water. The sieve is moved up and down
repeatedly until the maggots are cleaned thoroughly. Lastly the sieve is dipped
in hot water at 500C for 15 seconds to kill them. Later some of them
are to be sundried, oven dried or kept fresh form in the freezer depending on
the farmer’s choice. Meals are prepared by grinding or milling the dehydrated
maggots with milling machine. Magmeal is canned or packed in cellophane bags,
sealed and stored in an airtight container.