Cultivation of housefly larvae (Musca domestica L.) as a biological method to enrich rice straw and maximise its utilisation

This study is aimed at presenting a new biological technique to enrich rice straw via the cultivation ofMusca domestica (MD) and at evaluating the outcome of this technique usingin vitro andin vivo studies. Rice straw was treated using molasses and water at 17.5: 0.375: 7.0 (w/v/v), respectively. The mixture was left in an open shaded area for 11 successive days to allow MD to lay eggs and produce larvae. During this time, the recorded temperature was 35.6±2.2 °C and the humidity was 49±5.7%. Rice straw treated with 4% urea (URS) and untreated rice straw (RS) were used for comparison within vitro andin vivo MD maggot rice straw (MRS). The crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) contents gradually increased during the first 8 days, and then began to gradually decrease until the 11th day.In vitro studies were performed on RS, MRS and URS as a single substrate. Instead, in thein vivo studies, experimental RS was offeredad libitum to sheep, and a concentrate feed mixture was provided as pellets to cover the maintenance requirements. The volume of produced gas and thein vitro degradability of the organic matter (OM), ash-free neutral detergent fibre, and CP (P