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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 64(16)

Nutritional composition of black soldier fly (Hermetia ilucens) larvae reared on vegetable wastes: effects on growth of village chickens

Zaid Ahmad https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6359-3585 A , S. K. Ramiah A , Eddy S. Jamein A , Zulkifli Idrus A , Idris H. Lokman B , Faiz M. A. Amirul C , Samad A. A. Fadzlin A , Afifi A. A. Ghani B , Mohd Zamri-Saad B , Anuraga Jayanegara D and Hasliza Abu Hassim https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7119-6560 A B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Universiti Putra Malaysia, Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia.

B Universiti Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia.

C Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan 16100, Malaysia.

D IPB University, Faculty of Animal Science, Department of Nutrition and Feed Technology, Bogor 16680, Indonesia.

* Correspondence to: haslizaabu@upm.edu.my

Handling Editor: Stephen Walkden-Brown

Animal Production Science 64, AN23438 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN23438
Submitted: 31 December 2023  Accepted: 10 July 2024  Published: 1 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Black soldier fly larvae are a promising alternative ingredient in poultry feed. They might be able to replace soybean and fishmeal because the have high concentrations of protein and fat, and are also rich in vitamins and minerals, and because partial replacement of soybean and total replacement of fishmeal produce no adverse effect on the growth performance of village chickens. Therefore, they are a suitable replacement for these traditional ingredients in poultry feed.

Aims

This study determines the nutritive values of black soldier fly larvae and evaluates the effects of feeding diets containing black soldier fly larvae on the growth performance of village chickens.

Methods

Samples of black soldier fly larvae were subjected to proximate analysis before a total of 280 1-day-old village chicks were randomly divided into four groups. All groups were fed a basal diet with partial replacements of corn and soybean with black soldier fly larvae at 0% (Control), 5% (T1), 10% (T2) and 15% (T3) for 70 days. Each treatment group consisted of seven replicates, with 10 birds per replicate. The bodyweights, bodyweight gains and feed conversion rates were determined.

Key results

Dry rendered black soldier fly larvae contained 773.0 ± 0.08 g/kg dry matter, 36.1 ± 0.09 g/kg ash, 408.8 ± 0.28 g/kg crude protein, 283.0 ± 0.16 g/kg ether extract and 40.9 ± 0.44 g/kg crude fibre. The larvae also contained 2.041 MJ/kg of metabolisable energy, 20.4 g/kg of calcium and adequate concentrations of vitamins. The feeding trial showed an average bodyweight gain of 1231.45 ± 23.37 g and feed conversion ratio of 2.03 ± 0.15, which were most efficient with Diet T3.

Conclusions

Inclusion of 15% black soldier fly larvae in diets can enhance the growth performance of village chickens without adverse effects.

Implications

Partial replacement of soybean and total replacement of fishmeal in the diet of chickens by black soldier fly larvae are not affecting the growth performance of village chickens but might reduce the feed cost.

Keywords: black soldier fly larvae, feed cost, fish meal, growth performance, nutritional compositions, nutritive value, soybean, village chickens.

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