Quality of the carcass and organs of chicken fed with two different insects meals

Abstract

The influence of insect protein origins on broiler chicken meat parameters were studied using 135 day old Arbor acre birds subjected to three dietary treatments: Diet A comprised of a standard feed of the brand name ‘vital feed’ containing fishmeal as the major protein source (control), while Diet B and Diet C contained insect meal from African palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus phoenicis), respectively, winged termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) as replacement for fishmeal. Forty five broiler chicks were randomly assigned to each of the dietary treatments at the rate of fifteen chicks per replicate making three replicates per treatment in a completely randomised design. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. During this period, the birds were housed in similar cages and subjected to similar husbandry and sanitation practices, such that the only source of variation was the dietary treatments. After eight weeks of the experiment, carcass quality and organ weight measurements were analysed using appropriate statistical analysis. The result obtained showed that the broiler chickens fed insect meals performed significantly (P<0.05) better in terms of live weight gain (2,200.85±64.23 g and 2,046±58.40 g for Diet B and Diet C) compared to control. Carcass quality relating to defeathered weight and eviscerated weight also followed a similar trend with Diet B (2,187.74±62.72 g and 1,788.93±70.70 g), Diet C (2,015.83±74.62 g and 1,466.97±100.05 g), and Diet A (control; 1,526.47±47.40 g and 1,240.30±64.53 g). The records of cut-up parts and organ weight measurements were also significantly different (P<0.05) for the birds on insect meal (Diet B and Diet C) than those on fishmeal based diet (Diet A). The result showed that insect meal can effectively serve as a major source of protein in poultry feed formulation.