Meal Worms or Black Soldier Fly Larvae?

[Stonernextdoor88]

Any recommendations on where to buy them? Are all the brands about the same? Any better than others?

I get them at the store I buy my feed.

 

[Rick589]

both are a really nice high protein, fatty treat great for winter time !
I generally get the Flock Party Meal worms and or BSF larva at my local tractor Supply

Your right I’m wrong. It is Flock Party

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I feed them both, but both me and the chickens prefer the mealworms over the black fly larvae.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mealworms for me because BSFL creep me the heck out! I can't stand the thought of touching them. Mealworms aren't that much better but the more worm-y shape is less off-putting than the fatter grub shape.

 

[Perris]

Is there really an advantage over one or the other? Nutritionally

There are papers comparing them. E.g. "Here we collate, synthesize and discuss the available information on five major insect species studied with respect to evaluation of their products as animal feed. The nutritional quality of black soldier fly larvae, the house fly maggots, mealworm, locusts–grasshoppers–crickets, and silkworm meal and their use as a replacement of soymeal and fishmeal in the diets of poultry, pigs, fish species and ruminants are discussed. The crude protein contents of these alternate resources are high: 42–63% and so are the lipid contents (up to 36% oil), which could possibly be extracted and used for various applications including biodiesel production. Unsaturated fatty acid concentrations are high in housefly maggot meal, mealworm and house cricket (60–70%), while their concentrations in black soldier fly larvae are lowest (19–37%). The studies have confirmed that palatability of these alternate feeds to animals is good and they can replace 25–100% of soymeal or fishmeal depending on the animal species." excerpt from the Abstract of 'State-of-the-art on use of insects as animal feed'.

Much of their nutritional profile depends on what the mealworms or BSFL were fed. If you just buy them, you really have no idea what they ate and therefore what (for good or ill) they may be providing to your flock. If you raise your own, you will know what they ate, and you can choose what to supplement as you think required given what else your flock may eat.

If you raise them, mealworms are much easier to manage than BSFL, as Black soldier flies can fly, unlike Tenebrio molitor beetles. So mealworms can be kept in a simple drawer, while BSFL need fly proof netting etc.

 

[Rick589]

Mealworms for me because BSFL creep me the heck out! I can't stand the thought of touching them. Mealworms aren't that much better but the more worm-y shape is less off-putting than the fatter grub shape.

I, too, had that very brief reaction(just took a second or two). My son, in his 30’s was offered to feed the chickens BSFL until I passed him the bag. Once he looked in he immediately refused. Anymore, they smell of nutty goodness to me, the chickens really really like them, and getting a handful is the same, to me, as grabbing a hand of sunflower seeds which the little Hoovers also suck up.

 

[1stflockMama]

Any recommendations on where to buy them? Are all the brands about the same? Any better than others?

Amazon. They had them cheaper than the feed stores around us

 

[bearcreekbees]

I can't raise BSFL where I live so I raise mealworms instead. But I have to use them sparingly due to the high fat content- my birds already get plenty of fat in their homemade ration, which incudes suet.

I am waaaaayyyyy too frugal to pay for insects more than once, so I raise my own. They are relatively cheap to purchase as breeding stock and once a system is set up and running it takes very little time, and less $$$, to keep it going. And, as someone else mentioned- I know exactly what they are eating as opposed to buying some cheap Chinese-made ones from Amazon that might have been eating melamine or something equally unhealthy. Also, a great way to use up food scraps.

 

[Bawkbok]

used for various applications including biodiesel production

You've provided good information.
Our girls won't touch the BSFs so I think they'll end up in the compost pile. They're not crazy about the meal worms either. Bet if I raised my own mealworms, they'd go nuts over them. Considering it.

 

[etenn01]

I have to be stealthy moving around in my feed storage container. A crinkle of the bag will drive them nuts.