Black Soldier Fly (Hermitia illucens) Larvae Meal as Alternative Protein in Broiler Production in Ghana

Abstract

Feed cost has been a major challenge to the competitiveness of the poultry industry of Ghana due mainly to high cost of proteins. Insect larvae meals seem convenient alternatives however their use on commercial scale is unknown in Ghana. Three 8-week feeding trial using three isonitrogenous, isocaloric diets in a three-phase feeding strategy involving 1320 broiler DOCs was conducted. BSFLM was used as replacement for fishmeal and as partial replacement for soybean meal to determine its effect on broiler productivity, profitability and carcass measurements. The results indicated that replacing fishmeal with BSFLM significantly improved weight gain, feed conversion efficiency and production efficiency factor (PEF). No detrimental effect was observed on carcass and specific organ measurements. Using the partial budgeting approach on a 500-bird estimation an increase of one thousand, one hundred and eleven Ghana cedis (GH₵1,111.00) was obtained when the fishmeal was replaced with BSFLM. Also, an increase of four hundred and sixty-seven Ghana cedis (GH₵467.00) was estimated when soybean meal was partially replaced with BSFLM. It was concluded that BSFLM can be used to improve the productivity and profitability of broiler production.

Advances in selenium supplementation: From selenium-enriched yeast to potential selenium-enriched insects, and selenium nanoparticles

“…Black soldier fly larvae are considered a potential good quality feed ingredient. In fact, BSF larvae have a crude protein content (38.0% to 60.4%) comparable to fishmeal (60.5% to 65%) or soybean (42.0% to 47%), making them a valuable alternative protein source ( Arango Gutiérrez et al., 2004 ) already used in several studies in the diet of various animal species ( Affedzie-obresi et al., 2020 ; Bruni et al., 2020 ; Star et al., 2020 ; Tan et al., 2020 ). Black soldier fly larvae could thus be enriched with Se to create a premium speciality feed that could complement Se-yeast.…”