Cafeteria-Type Feeding of Chickens Indicates a Preference for Insect (Tenebrio molitor) Larvae Meal

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether broiler chickens display a preference for Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM) meal by evaluating ingredient acceptability and birds’ performance. Sixty 14-day-old male chickens were assigned into two treatment groups (5 birds/pen, n = 6) in a cafeteria-type study: the control (C) group, and the TM group. Each pen was equipped with one bell drinker and four through feeders allocated side by side; all feeders of the C group contained a complete standard diet whereas each feeder of the TM group contained one of the following ingredients: ground corn, extruded semi-whole soybean, vitamin-mineral supplement mixture, and TM meal. Feed intake was recorded daily and growth was monitored periodically up to day 32. Chickens which had access to individual feed components showed a delay to display preference for TM, but consumed, overall, up to 50% of the total intake as TM meal. Feed intake and growth performance were lower in all periods for TM group (p < 0.02), whereas feed conversion ratio was improved on days 22–28 and days 29–32 of age (p < 0.01). Data from bivariate and multidimensional analysis indicate that birds started to reach a balance of ingredient intake at 25 days of age, showing a high correlation between consumption of each ingredient and the day of the experiment. Chickens exhibited a preference for T. molitor meal, resulting in improved feed efficiency, which allows us to conclude that it can be a suitable feed alternative for poultry.

Suitability of Hermetia illucens larvae meal and fat in broiler diets: effects on animal performance, apparent ileal digestibility, gut histology, and microbial metabolites

“…This matches observations of Cullere et al [ 43 ], who observed that quails tended to consume more feed if HI larvae meal was included. A similar behaviour was also observed by Nascimento et al [ 44 ], determining a preference of broilers towards Tenebrio molitor meal in a cafeteria-type feeding. However, the opposite has previously been observed by Kieronczyk et al [ 27 ], where broilers consumed less feed with higher HI larvae fat inclusion, which nevertheless resulted in a better FCR.…”

Performance of Slow-Growing Chickens Fed with Tenebrio molitor Larval Meal as a Full Replacement for Soybean Meal

“…A natural behavior of chickens is feeding on different insects throughout their lives [ 9 ]. Therefore, it is very likely that chickens would do well with insect meal as part of their dietary rations [ 10 ]. Insects are claimed to be an alternative and sustainable nutritional source for farm animals, including poultry [ 8 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Economic viability of insect meal as a novel ingredient in diets for broiler chickens

“…Ballitoc and Sun (2013) pointed out that the addition of insect meal to diets suggest a greater palatability of the diet, reflecting the innate behaviour of birds in a natural environment. Nascimento-Filho et al (2020), demonstrated that after a few days of being offered insect meal in a cafeteria-type study, chickens developed a clear preference for this ingredient compared to the usual feed ingredients, especially extruded semi-whole soybean meal, and also indicated better feed conversion rates.…”

“…Insects are considered promising as a sustainable source of nutrients for birds (Barroso et al, 2014;Józefiak et al, 2020;Nascimento-Filho et al, 2020), as they have a high content of proteins and fats (Makkar et al, 2014;Veldkamp et al, 2012) and could replace 25 to 100% of conventional protein ingredients that make up animal feed (Veldkamp et al, 2012). Larvae of T. molitor have an important potential use as a source of protein in the feed of birds.…”