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ARS 33-136 

 February 1970 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 Agricultural Research Service 



BIODEGRADING POULTRY EXCRETA WITH HOUSE FLY LARVAE: THE CONCEPT AND EQUIPMENT 



By N. 0. Morgan, Entomology Research Division, and C. C. Calvert and 

 R. D. Martin, Animal Husbandry Research. Division 



The excretion of one White Leghorn laying hen amounts to 0.25-0.40 pound 

 per day. Therefore the daily production of 100,000 layers ranges from 12.5 to 

 20 tons and creates an enormous problem of disposal. Also, odors and air and 

 water pollution are associated problems compounded by local and State legis- 

 lation against transportation, the encroachment of suburbs, application of 

 raw excreta and the expense to the egg producer . 



Methods available at this time for disposal of such excreta include incin- 

 eration, drying, spreading on the land, and storage in either piles or lagoons. 

 All these methods may be unsatisfactory and may also be expensive. 



Therefore biodegradation, that is, the use of natural living organisms 

 to break down the excreta, may be a practical means of solving the difficulty. 

 In experiments at Beltsville, Md. , we are using the larva of the house fly 

 ( Musca domestica L.) to process the raw excreta of hens and to produce a 

 fertilizer or soil conditioner and a feed supplement .1/ 



The house fly larvae were selected for testing because they can develop 

 in organic wastes. Fly eggs placed on fresh waste hatch within 24 hours, and 

 the young larvae immediately begin feeding and tunneling into the medium. Then 

 after 6-7 days the larvae migrate to a drier site where they pupate. 





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1/ Calvert, C. C, Martin, R. D. , and Morgan, N. 0. House fly pupae as 

 food for poultry. Jour. Econ. Ent. 62:938-939. 1969. 



