Improvements in Performance of Nursery Pigs Provided with Supplemental Oil Derived from Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae

Abstract

The current study evaluated the impact of increasing levels of supplemental black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) oil, a novel and sustainable feed ingredient, on growth performance and blood chemistry indices in nursery pigs. Pigs were weaned at 21 days of age (n = 192; body weight = 6.9 ± 0.15 kg) and randomly allotted within sex and body weight to 1 of 4 dietary treatments, using 48 pens (4 pigs/pen). Treatments contained 0, 2, 4, or 6% supplemental BSFL oil, replacing equivalent quantities of corn oil. A 3-phase feeding program was used with 14, 11, and 15 days for phase 1 to 3, respectively. Supplementation of BSFL oil linearly (p ≤ 0.052) improved pig body weight and daily gain throughout the study and overall. No differences were observed in feed intake; however, feed efficiency was linearly improved with BSFL oil supplementation for phase 1 and 2 (p < 0.05). Serum cholesterol increased linearly (p = 0.002) and platelet count tended to increase linearly (p = 0.082) with increasing BSFL oil. No other differences were detected in blood chemistry and all results were within normal ranges. In conclusion, BSFL oil is a valuable, energy-dense feed ingredient that can promote growth performance of nursery pigs.

Effects of Hermetia illucens Larvae Meal and Astaxanthin as Feed Additives on Health and Production Indices in Weaned Pigs

“…In our experiment, the supplementation of feed with 2.5 or 5% HI meal (36.5 g of lauric acid per 100 g of all estimated acids) did not influence the cholesterol content in the blood. In contrast, in the experiment by van Heugten et al (2022) [34] where the HI larvae oil (36.5-37.3 g of lauric acid/100 g) was used in the amount of 2%, 4%, or 6% in the feed, the increase in total cholesterol level (by about 17% compared to control group) was the only significant effect observed in piglets' biochemical blood indices. These authors, however, did not notice any effect of lauric acid present in HI oil on the hematological parameters.…”

“…There were no differences in average daily feed intake among all three groups. One study [34] was conducted for 40 days to investigate the effect of increasing levels of HI larvae oil supplementation on the growth performance of newly weaned pigs (at 21 days of age) reared in a three-phase feeding program. It was found that supplementation with 0%, 2%, 4%, or 6% of insect oil linearly increased (p < 0.05) body weight on days 14, 21, 25, 33, and 40, but did not affect the feed intake throughout the whole experiment.…”