How about cricket farming?

[a7736100]

Good source of protein.

https://morningchores.com/cricket-farming/

 

[Nibbles]

Protein for you or your animals? Though I think I've read that in Oriental countries they may be fried and a treat. I might need a lot of chocolate or batter for frying on them before eating any. Maybe even some sauce so I would not taste them.

 

[Zee-Man]

You could grind them up and mix them in just about anything! While we are talking about alternative protein, how about black soldier fly larvae?

 

[MnCanary]

I used to sell peat moss to a cricket farm. The building was as big as a small gym, filled with pallet racks. Each layer (about 8 layers tall) had totes, about 20 gallon size. There were perhaps 1000 totes in the building. Each tote was loosely layered with egg cartons, and was filled with crickets. The owner fed the crickets with laying hen crumbles, plus water on a sponge. The noise was deafening!

 

[Ducklove74]

I have reptiles and at one time considered raising crickets...some types are not as noisy but all chirp, but my biggest issue was they really stink
I am not sure if you are considering the crickets for your animals or yourself, but I've found that dubia roaches are quieter and less smelly..they have almost double the protein of crickets with added calcium and less fat.

 

[Plinsc]

Yuck!
lol! I’ll stick to feeding them to my rabbits and ducks and then eat them!

 

[Zee-Man]

For those who have chickens, other fowl, reptiles, or fish or for those who want to increase throughput on compost. The black soldier fly larvae are pretty awesome. Good fat, protein, and mineral sources they eat ALL your kitchen scrap including that which you would normally not put in the compost. They self harvest making them easy to feed to your animals. Use the "tea" to fertilize flowers etc, put the "mass" in the compost as a feeder for bacteria there. Let them get into your compost pile and watch it digest quickly. While they are not suited for eating cellulose directly, they will thrive there and eat the bacteria reduced cellulose. They don't survive the winter well in cooler climes (Delaware is too cold) so you have to import them annually, but they are sooooo cheap.

 

[a7736100]

Is there any danger of fly strikes from soldier flies?

 

[Ducklove74]

Yuck!
lol! I’ll stick to feeding them to my rabbits and ducks and then eat them!

I hear you! I wouldn't be eating any insects and not fond of gathering them for my bearded dragons...lol..the things we do for our fuzzy, scaled, and feathered babies

 

[eco2pia]

For those who have chickens, other fowl, reptiles, or fish or for those who want to increase throughput on compost. The black soldier fly larvae are pretty awesome. Good fat, protein, and mineral sources they eat ALL your kitchen scrap including that which you would normally not put in the compost. They self harvest making them easy to feed to your animals. Use the "tea" to fertilize flowers etc, put the "mass" in the compost as a feeder for bacteria there. Let them get into your compost pile and watch it digest quickly. While they are not suited for eating cellulose directly, they will thrive there and eat the bacteria reduced cellulose. They don't survive the winter well in cooler climes (Delaware is too cold) so you have to import them annually, but they are sooooo cheap.

hmm, I have considered it... it is too cold here for them to overwinter, but how do they self harvest?

I have had chips make from cricket flour, they are good. I also am now curious about dubia roaches, lol. I did not realize they had a USE!

 

[Zee-Man]

No danger of fly strike. Black soldier flies are not related to black/house/bot flies. In fact, BSF will out compete those flies, hence reducing risk of fly strike.

When the larvae reach the seventh instar they migrate out of their normally wet environment to a dry one. The typical farm has inclined sides with narrow escape holes. The larvae simply climb out and fall into collection vessels. If growing BSFL solely for chickens or fish, you need only position the exit so they fall into the yard/tank. Otherwise any container with straight walls will do for collection.

 

[eco2pia]

If growing BSFL solely for chickens or fish, you need only position the exit so they fall into the yard/tank.

OMG. this would be too much fun to watch. I can just picture the duck waiting expectantly by the exit...

 

[Zee-Man]

Here is a great starting point for BSFL, Living Web Farms Black Soldier Fly Production Part 1 Introduction

 

[HTAcres]

Here is a great starting point for BSFL, Living Web Farms Black Soldier Fly Production Part 1 Introduction

You read my mind...thanks! I have looked at them before and they seemed like a lot of trouble but I am at a different point now and I should revisit the topic.