Assessing dried black soldier fly larva as a feed component for poultry production

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to determine the nitrogen corrected true metabolizable energy (TMEn), and digestible amino acid content of dried black soldier fly larva (BSFL), to determine if the methionine and lysine content of BSFL could be enriched by adding more crystalline lysine and methionine to their diet, and to determine if BSFL could be incorporated into broiler diets without compromising bird performance. Cecectomized and intact adult Single Comb White Leghorn roosters were used to determine amino acids digestibility and TMEn values, respectively on 8 BSFL samples from different sources. Broilers were fed from 0 to 21 d of age diets containing 0, 6, or 12 % BSFL in one experiment and 0, 6, 12, and 16 % in another experiment. The TME_N values on an as is basis ranged from 3,611 to 5,142 kcal/kg. Essential amino acid digestibility coefficient values ranged from 73 to 97 %. Growing BSFL on a nutritionally complete broiler finisher diet supplemented with extra crystalline lysine and methionine resulted in them having a significant, but marginal increase in the content of these amino acids relative to those reared on the control diet. Broilers fed diets containing 16 % BSFL had a decreased body weight gain and an increased feed to gain ratio relative to those fed the other treatments. The results indicate that as the production of BSFL is standardized yielding more consistent nutrient content, it could be suitable to be incorporated into broiler diets at least 6 % without negatively impacting bird performance.