Egg production and quality responses of adding up to 7.5% defatted black soldier fly larvae meal in a corn–soybean meal diet fed to Shaver White Leghorns from wk 19 to 27 of age

Abstract

We examined egg production and quality responses of adding up to 7.5% defatted black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) in a corn–soybean meal diet fed to pullets (19 to 27 wk of age). The concentration of CP and crude fat in BSFLM sample was 59.3 and 7.0% DM, respectively. A corn–soybean meal diet was formulated with 0 or 5.0 or 7.5% BSFLM and fed (n = 6) to a total of 108, 19-wk-old Shaver White pullets placed in conventional cages (6 birds/cage). The birds had free access to feed and water. Hen-day egg production (HDEP) and average egg weight were monitored daily and feed intake (FI) weekly. Egg quality parameters were assessed on individual eggs collected on the 5th d of wk 22, 24, and 26 and included individual EW (IEW), albumen height (HU), yolk color (YC), egg shell-breaking strength (SBS) and thickness (ST). A quadratic response (P < 0.02) was observed for HDEP, EW and egg mass. Specifically, birds fed 0 and 7.5% BSFLM diets had similar (P > 0.05) values for these parameters with birds fed 5.0% BSFLM showing lower (P < 0.05) HDEP than 0 or 7.5% BSFLM fed birds. The HDEP was 89.4, 84.8, and 87.8 for 0, 5.0, and 7.5% BSFLM, respectively. Feeding BSFLM linearly (P < 0.01) increased FI and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (FI/egg mass). There was no diet effect (P > 0.05) on IEW and HU, however, BSFLM linearly (P = 0.02) reduced CV of IEW. The IEW was 53.7, 52.3, and 53.0 g for 0, 5.0, and 7.5% BSFLM-fed birds, respectively and corresponding CV values of IEW were 7.9, 5.2, and 5.1%. Feeding BSFLM linearly (P < 0.01) increased YC, SBS, and ST. In conclusion, birds fed 7.5% BSFLM had similar HDEP and egg mass but poor FCR relative to corn–soybean meal diet without BSFLM. The effects of BSFLM on egg quality characteristics warrant further investigations.

Standardized ileal digestible amino acids and apparent metabolizable energy content in defatted black soldier fly larvae meal fed to broiler chickens

“…Moreover, formulating using SID of AA estimates results in diets that more closely match the birds' requirements and reduce excess nutrients (Adedokun et al 2007;Moughan et al 2014;Adeola et al 2016). We recently reported AA and gross energy (GE) composition of a commercial BSFLM approved for poultry feeding in Canada (Mwaniki et al 2018). The present study determined SID of AA and AMEn value of this sample in a broiler chickens assay.…”

“…The meal is a dry, powder product derived from larvae of the BSF (H. illucens) reared on preconsumer recycled food collected from local farms, food processors, and grocery stores. The meal is approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for feeding poultry and its chemical composition was previously reported (Mwaniki et al 2018). A nitrogen-free diet (NFD; Table 1), cornstarch-based, was formulated to allow estimation of basal ileal endogenous nitrogen (N) and AA losses for the calculation of SID of crude protein (CP) and AA (Adeola et al 2016).…”

“…AMEn ðkcal kg −1 Þ = AME − ð8.22 × ANRÞ where ANR is the apparent N retained (g kg −1 of feed intake). The AA and GE contents in BSFLM were from Mwaniki et al (2018).…”

“…Insects have been proposed as a high quality, efficient, and sustainable alternative protein source (De Marco et al 2015;Marono et al 2017;Dabbou et al 2018;Mwaniki et al 2018;Secci et al 2018). Using insects as a protein source can contribute to global food security via feed or as a direct food source for humans (Schader et al 2015).…”

“…The use of BSFLM as a diet component has been reported for poultry (De Marco et al 2015;Marono et al 2017;Dabbou et al 2018;Mwaniki et al 2018;Secci et al 2018). However, in general there is a dearth of information on digestible AA and apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) data for BSFLM.…”