Abstract
Substitution of feed protein source with defatted black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFM) has been evaluated intensively in poultry, but information about full-fatted BSFM is still very limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary low inclusion of full-fatted BSFM on the growth performance, plasma antioxidant ability, nutrient digestibility, and gut health of layer chickens during 1–42 days of age. A total of 480 female 1-day-old Hy-Line Brown chickens were divided into four dietary treatments, with the inclusion of 0, 3, 6, and 9% of full-fatted BSFM. Each treatment included six replicates and 20 birds per replicate. As dietary full-fatted BSFM inclusion levels increased, there was a quadratic increase in final weight and average daily gain and a quadratic decrease in feed/gain ratio. Dietary full-fatted BSFM inclusion levels increased the digestibility of crude protein and ether extract quadratically as well as ileum mucosal sIgA concentration linearly, but these had no effect on intestinal morphology. Additionally, an increase in dietary full-fatted BSFM inclusion levels resulted in a linear increase in glutathione peroxidase and total superoxide dismutase activities and a linear decrease in malondialdehyde content in plasma. The encouraging results of the improvement of growth performance, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant ability, and gut health parameters suggested that partially full-fatted BSFM inclusion can be suitable protein ingredients for layer chickens' diets at the starter period.
Highlights
Due to the increasing demand of feed protein sources and environment-friendly production, insects have received considerable attention as alternative protein sources to replace conventional protein sources used in animal production [1, 2]
The utilization of black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFM) has been evaluated in layer hens at the middle and the late laying periods [8], but limited knowledge is available for layer chickens at the starter period
The chickens fed the diet with 3% full-fatted BSFM had the greatest average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily gain (ADG) as well as the lowest feed/gain ratio (F/G) during days 1 to 42
Summary
Due to the increasing demand of feed protein sources and environment-friendly production, insects have received considerable attention as alternative protein sources to replace conventional protein sources used in animal production [1, 2]. Most studies have focused on the potential use of defatted BSFM in feed formulation of poultry [4, 6, 9, 10], whereas information about full-fatted BSFM is still very limited. Previous studies have demonstrated that the dietary low inclusion of full-fatted BSFM [11, 12] or BSFM fat as an alternative to soybean oil [13] has positive effects on energy availability, attributed to improving growth performance and meat quality in species of pig and fish. These encouraging results suggested that there would be a promising practical application of the low inclusion of full-fatted BSFM in the formulation of poultry diets
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