Evaluation of Musca domestica (House fly) larvae production from organic waste

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of organic waste (pig manure and chicken layer droppings) on the production of house fly larvae (HFL) and its nutritive value. A completely randomised design was used, with three treatments (pig manure, chicken layer dropping and equal combination of the pig and chicken excreta) replicated six times. The data for biomass reduction, larvae wet and dry weight, moisture, ash, crude fibre, crude protein, fat, calcium and phosphorus were analysed using analysis of variance. While the least square means were generated using the Tukey's honestly significant difference. Pig manure produced the highest yield of HFL significantly (P < 0.05), as indicated by both wet (3.61 g) and dry (0.63 g) larvae weight. Introduction of HFL reduced organic waste by 39–42%. Furthermore, results indicated HFL to contain high protein 50-53%, considerable levels of Ca (1.32–1.465%) and P (1.72–2.09%) on as is basis. It can be concluded that pig manure and chicken layer droppings are suitable substrates for the production of HFL, which contain a suitable nutritional value for use as a protein source in animal diets. The study recommends further studies on HFL production on a larger scale for inclusion in animal diets.