Presently, the cost of fishmeal and soya bean is soaring higher by the day. Reason being that the nation’s oceans are currently over fished! Farmers in Nigeria spend between 55 to 85 percent of their total cost on feed alone!
However, poultry farmers are looking for other alternative ways to feed their birds, chickens and pigs. But sustainable solution to be in poultry business is rearing of maggot, which can reduce cost of production by over 60 per cent and increase profitably.
With the high cost of animal feed, growing maggots is becoming a thriving business. Maggots come from flies. When flies lay eggs, the eggs pass through several stages before they turn into flies.
How do you get rid of fruit flies?
Maggot are being produced through flies, such as houseflies but the most productive one is is Black Soldier Flies (BSF) and it is economically viable. With BSF, a farmer can start commercial Maggots production and process for export.
A female BSF after mating is capable of laying 500 eggs daily. 1kg of fly eggs will produce 380kg of larvae (maggots) in just 3 days – about 10 bags of 25kg bag of dried feed). In 10 days, they would have hatched, grown into 1cm long maggots for harvest, processing into Maggot feed and ready to feed your livestock.
As a matter of fact, maggots can be a good and suitable substitute for soybeans and fishmeal, which are core ingredients in animal feed.
Starting a maggot farming business comes with its own fair share of challenges, but that does not rule out the fact that it is indeed a thriving and profitable business venture.
An aspiring entrepreneur or farmer can either choose to start a maggot farming business on a small scale or on a large scale depending on their financial status.
Daily Sun learnt that a farmer who produce maggot up to five or ten bags at no cost and sell for N2, 500 per bag can make millions in few months. It is made known that people can use the maggot to feed fish, poultry, ducks, pigs, and other animals.
Interestingly, from Colarado in United States of America to South Africa, the maggot market is heating up – and helping solve the problem of ever soaring high cost of fish and soya bean meals – the two most important ingredients in poultry, pork and fish feed production. From a reliable source, a lot of people have become millionaires from this business in South Africa.
It therefore advisable for whoever want to venture into maggots business should undergo training from an expert.
And again, people can start maggots farming from the litle space at their backyards.
Aside animal feed, maggots actually provide other beneficiary services as well, from helping solve crime to healing wounds!
An expert in Maggots farming , Richard Agbugba said that for decades, protein in animal feed have come from two main sources: Soybeans and Fishmeal, the prices of both are beyond the reach of farmers world over.
Saying from from a practical point of view, farming flies appear to be one of the most interesting protein alternative for getting food on the table of a growing global population.
He said: “so instead of incurring these huge costs, some forward looking entrepreneurs like me, are turning to farming maggots via a technically designed self-harvesting Bin – no mess, no smell! Maggots unlike Soybean and Fishmeal are very new to the scene as a suitable source of protein and contain a wide range of amino acids and minerals that provide the necessary nutrition for fish and poultry fast growth.”
He said that maggot farming is a very veritable avenue for money making because the larvae comes handy in the production of animal feeds.
Adding that many people, especially, in South Africa have become millionaires by culturing maggots for fish/poultry farmers.
He explained: “Maggots are rich in protein, amino acids and minerals which are essential to building up the muscles of livestock animals. With our technically designed, self-harvesting maggot bin, maggots can be farmed, harvested in commercial quantity, processed into feed and sold to farmers.
“In every business, there are rules and guidelines that one must follow in order to achieve success. The same principles apply when you want to start out in maggot farming. So, if you want to go into this kind of business, then you have to equip yourself with the fundamental knowledge of maggot farming and that’s exactly where we come in!”
He stated that when maggot is defatted, dried and ground, it becomes a very nutritious meal for animals because of its rich protein content.
He noted: “In this form, it is an irresistible repast for fish, fowls and pigs. Aside being a standalone meal, dried and ground maggot can also be mixed with other animal feeds to enhance their nutrients.
Maggots can either be processed into other finished products such as animal feeds and oil or sold to end users locally or internationally. A container of 200 maggots goes for $10 at the international market.”
He said few things trigger repulsion like the sight of maggots writhing through rotten food or decomposing road kill.
Saying that maggots, which are the larval stage of houseflies and other related insects are actually one of nature’s unsung heroes.
“However, our focus will be on these golden creatures as future heroes that could help save the world by recycling waste nutrients and generating sustainable protein. In chicken and fish production, maggot protein has been shown to produce better weight gain and less gizzard erosion, he added.
