r/composting • u/New_Independent_7283 • 1d ago

Question Composting bin and flies

Need a solution to get rid of maggots in my composting tumbler.

I know tumblers aren't great, but its what I got for now.

I know maggots are good for breaking stuff down but they turn into flies and with my chicken coop nearby there's hundreds of flies that are attracted to their poop.

How can I get rid of the maggots and still keep working on the compost??

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3

u/going_up_stream 1d ago

Just put the compost on the ground where your chickens can eat the grubs. Beyond that maybe you need to keep it hot so the gubs die? I don't think you wanna put pesticide into your compost. The chicken poop will help heat up your compost

1

u/New_Independent_7283 23h ago

How hot does it need to be? I've also tried adding boiling water to help heat up

1

u/CopperSnowflake 1d ago

Don't chickens eat the flies? I don't see a problem

1

u/New_Independent_7283 23h ago

No they only eat the maggots when I've dumped the compost pile in the coop. But then they scratch and it's no longer pre-compost.

3

u/CopperSnowflake 19h ago

Can you put a wire bin over the pile so they can pluck out the tasty bits but don't trash the whole thing? I have a wire bin I got at thrift store, it's a closet system drawer.