Aussie Finch Forum

branchez wrote:

Craig52 wrote:

branchez wrote:Where do you get calf formula?
Jack

Hi Jack,i get mine from Geelong Farm Supplies or Geelong Stock Foods.A 20kg bag last me up to 2+ years and that is with me producing about 1kg of maggots a week which works out fine for my birds but you may need to produce more for all your birds. Cheers Craig

Craig-got some from Geelong Stock Foods-they have it bagged in 2kg lots for $12.Will give it a trial run tomorrow.
Jack

Thats great Jack, it should work ok,but it's a dear way of buying it.As gomer said,it's $80 for a 20kg bag,that's $4 a kilo and you would be saving $40.
I use 1 heaped desert spoon to a litre of bran(half a 2 ltr icecream container)for the medium in the fly cage which is a large Chinese take away container and the same for the growing mix in a kitty litter tray.
Make sure you poke holes in your medium to let the flies in to lay their eggs,you get a lot more maggots that way,i use a bit of 10mm dowel. Cheers Craig

Craig52 wrote:

branchez wrote:

Craig52 wrote:

branchez wrote:Where do you get calf formula?
Jack

Hi Jack,i get mine from Geelong Farm Supplies or Geelong Stock Foods.A 20kg bag last me up to 2+ years and that is with me producing about 1kg of maggots a week which works out fine for my birds but you may need to produce more for all your birds. Cheers Craig

Craig-got some from Geelong Stock Foods-they have it bagged in 2kg lots for $12.Will give it a trial run tomorrow.
Jack

Thats great Jack, it should work ok,but it's a dear way of buying it.As gomer said,it's $80 for a 20kg bag,that's $4 a kilo and you would be saving $40.
I use 1 heaped desert spoon to a litre of bran(half a 2 ltr icecream container)for the medium in the fly cage which is a large Chinese take away container and the same for the growing mix in a kitty litter tray.
Make sure you poke holes in your medium to let the flies in to lay their eggs,you get a lot more maggots that way,i use a bit of 10mm dowel. Cheers Craig

Thanks Craig I'm learning all the time.
Jack

Craig[/quote]


Thats great Jack, it should work ok,but it's a dear way of buying it.As gomer said,it's $80 for a 20kg bag,that's $4 a kilo and you would be saving $40.
I use 1 heaped desert spoon to a litre of bran(half a 2 ltr icecream container)for the medium in the fly cage which is a large Chinese take away container and the same for the growing mix in a kitty litter tray.
Make sure you poke holes in your medium to let the flies in to lay their eggs,you get a lot more maggots that way,i use a bit of 10mm dowel. Cheers Craig [/quote]

I've been going over some earlier subjectes on maggots and came across this from Craig.
Could you please set out how you use and what is in a "Growing Mix"

Thanks Greg.

I've been going over some earlier subjectes on maggots and came across this from Craig.
Could you please set out how you use and what is in a "Growing Mix"

Thanks Greg.

There's a whole thread dedicated to this subject. Just use the search button located in the top righthand corner of this forum.

Greg/Pauline wrote:Craig

Thats great Jack, it should work ok,but it's a dear way of buying it.As gomer said,it's $80 for a 20kg bag,that's $4 a kilo and you would be saving $40.
I use 1 heaped desert spoon to a litre of bran(half a 2 ltr icecream container)for the medium in the fly cage which is a large Chinese take away container and the same for the growing mix in a kitty litter tray.
Make sure you poke holes in your medium to let the flies in to lay their eggs,you get a lot more maggots that way,i use a bit of 10mm dowel. Cheers Craig [/quote]

I've been going over some earlier subjectes on maggots and came across this from Craig.
Could you please set out how you use and what is in a "Growing Mix"

Thanks Greg.[/quote]
Hi Greg,yes it is explained in another thread and also above but here goes.When the medium in the fly cage swells and the crust on top rises it means the maggots have hatched and are growing.At this stage they are removed from the fly cage as by now they have eaten all the bran milk powder,if you leave it in the fly cage any longer they will start eating each other and you will end up with a couple of hundred huge maggots instead of a few thousand little ones.
Anyhow,the container is poured into a kitty litter tray and to that i add the same amount of bran/milk powder as the original medium but a lot more moist,abit like porridge as they are very dehydrated (that's why they eat each other when there is no food left or moisture).
I usually do this over night and by the next morning after their feed they at the right size to harvest. Cheers,the maggot man
Forgot to mention,the chinese food container i use in the for the meadium in the fly cage is around 70mm deep,works well to poke holes in the bran so a deep container is better than a shallow one.

Thanks for the reply, all is now clear.

Cheers Greg