Breeding Bush Fly Maggots

[ray_223]

Hi Greg,

You might like to be interested in a DVD a mate and I made:
http://AvicultureProductions.com/live-food-for-finches" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SamDavis]

Here's an overview of my maggot system.

The flybox - two globes controlled by a dimmer at the back. Flyscreen at the front lifts up for cleaning and sweeping out dead flies. Stocking hot glued to side for relatively fly proof access. 3 containers - one with sugar cubes, one for breeding new flies and one for egg laying/maggot production. I just give the flies a few sprays with water each day, so I have no permanent water source in the box.

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The mix - bran and water in roughly equal quantities, plus a few heaped desert spoons of milk powder. I use two scoops of bran/water using a 500mL coop cup.

Bran (Small).JPG

MilkPowder (Small).JPG

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Half the fresh mix goes in the new container ready to be blown in the flybox. I add the already blown (2 day old) mix to the remaining fresh mix.

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A closeup of the blown mix fresh out of the flybox after 2 days. First shows tiny maggots and second pic some fly eggs.

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The maturing mixes are left on top of the flybox where it's nice and warm. First pic shows a 3-4 day old mix. Second is a the 5-6 day old mix I'm feeding out. Third pic is the container in the flybox to hatch adult flies. I add a spoonful of fresh bran mix, a spoonful of the 5-6 day maggots and then cover it with the existing dry matter. This container stays in the flybox to breed new flies.

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Day5-6 (Small).JPG

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By day 5-6 the mix has pretty well dried out. During hot weather It'll sometimes dry out too much so I'll just give it a good spray with water to keep them going.

Hope this helps all those budding maggot breeders!
Sam

[Shark]

Sad thing is your likely to breed more maggots in your 1st container than finches in your entire life.

[SamDavis]

Sad thing is your likely to breed more maggots in your 1st container than finches in your entire life.

Unfortunately all too true! A kazillion maggots leads to just a few fledglings.
And I just noticed I've now publicly used my dearly beloved's rice cooker (the red container) for maggots. Hope she doesn't lurk through this thread! (Sorry darling - if you're reading this)

[E Orix]

Is that the normal number of Flies you have in your box.
At a rough guess our boxes are holding possibly 5+ times that many.
We have a permanent water container with Coconut Fibre in it so the flies can crawl out and not drown.
In the hot weather they would drink a Tuna Tin full a day.
I must say your box is cleaner and better looking than ours

[SamDavis]

Is that the normal number of Flies you have in your box. At a rough guess our boxes are holding possibly 5+ times that many.

Yes, pretty much - it does vary a bit. I think the camera has only picked up those sitting on the front flyscreen. There'd be masses of them on the sides but I doubt 5 times the number.

We have a permanent water container with Coconut Fibre in it so the flies can crawl out and not drown.
In the hot weather they would drink a Tuna Tin full a day.

In the past I've put a really wet sponge in the box, but it dried out real quick and they seem to be fine with a few sprays each morning. Maybe this is because my mix is quite wet compared to the one I recall you described earlier in the thread.

I must say your box is cleaner and better looking than ours

Had a thorough clean about a month ago. And the photos hide much of the fly dirt.

[wagga]

Sam,
I only used water via sponge in my maggot setup only during the heat wave conditions. I also mix my bran a little bit on the wet side. I enjoyed your maggot preparation photo presentation.

[Shark]

i have tried the sponge cut to size in a jar of water i found the flies laid eggs on it and it was eaten by maggots. Now I provide a very wet mix in a coffee lid with a pinch of milk powder on top, one goes in daily and is taken out after 2 days. This is all the water they get, nothing else is provided no sugar cubes, nothing. I also seem to have way more flies than Sam's pictures.
My box is in the storage section behind my flights, I separate teenage king quail and let them grow to adult size in this area, they eat all the seed fallen from the holding cages. Sometimes there are 20 or more quail in this section prior to going off to pet stores. When i clean out the fly box I put all dead flies in a bowl and the quail eat them all. another great thing quail are good for is ever there is too much maggots they will eat all given to them so no stray flies.

[Snowman]

Excellent read and photos, I found this Very enlighting. I'm Currently making a flybox.

[Danny]

Is that the normal number of Flies you have in your box.
At a rough guess our boxes are holding possibly 5+ times that many.
We have a permanent water container with Coconut Fibre in it so the flies can crawl out and not drown.
In the hot weather they would drink a Tuna Tin full a day.
I must say your box is cleaner and better looking than ours

Oddly, if I have 5 times that number of flies, my yield drops significantly - I do much better with fewer flies. I'm not sure why but it is certainly a consistent thing with mine.