Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens

(1) Background: Given the problems currently posed by the use of soybean meal in poultry feeding, its replacement with black soldier fly (BSF) meal may be a suitable strategy. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of this dietary replacement on laying performance, egg quality, and yolk nutritio...

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Main Authors: Carlos Romero, Juan Carlos Cenalmor, Susana Chamorro, César Redondo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Animals
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3340
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author Carlos Romero
Juan Carlos Cenalmor
Susana Chamorro
César Redondo
author_facet Carlos Romero
Juan Carlos Cenalmor
Susana Chamorro
César Redondo
author_sort Carlos Romero
collection DOAJ
description (1) Background: Given the problems currently posed by the use of soybean meal in poultry feeding, its replacement with black soldier fly (BSF) meal may be a suitable strategy. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of this dietary replacement on laying performance, egg quality, and yolk nutritional composition in free-range reared hens. (2) Methods: Three diets were formulated: a control diet with 210 g/kg of soybean meal, a diet with 105 g/kg of soybean meal and 80 g/kg of BSF meal, and a diet with 160 g/kg of BSF meal. This eight-week-long study was performed with 126 Bovans Brown hens aged 36 weeks (six replicates of seven hens each per dietary treatment); (3) Results: The laying performance of hens was not influenced by the diet consumed. Neither was the yolk content in fat, protein, cholesterol, choline, B vitamins, and cholecalciferol affected. The dietary inclusion of BSF meal made yolk colour score and albumen Haugh units decrease (<i>p</i> < 0.001) by 51.1% and 12.0%, respectively. It also reduced the yolk content in retinol (by 10.1%, <i>p</i> = 0.0037), but it increased that of α- and γ-tocopherol (by 27.6%, <i>p</i> = 0.014, and 25.8%, <i>p</i> = 0.0077, respectively). A negative linear effect (<i>p</i> < 0.001) was observed on yolk zinc concentration and on the proportions of polyunsaturated and ω-3 fatty acids with increasing dietary dose of BSF meal; (4) Conclusions: Soybean meal could be fully replaced by BSF meal in the diet of hens without affecting the laying rate or the egg weight. However, the dietary inclusion of BSF meal led to paler yolks and impaired albumen quality, while it decreased the content of retinol and zinc and the proportions of polyunsaturated and ω-3 fatty acids in egg yolk.
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spelling doaj-art-57e94500a5504e27a8e7022ba09e433b2025-08-20T01:53:42ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152024-11-011422334010.3390/ani14223340Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying HensCarlos Romero0Juan Carlos Cenalmor1Susana Chamorro2César Redondo3Facultad de Ciencias y Artes, Universidad Católica Santa Teresa de Jesús de Ávila (UCAV), Calle Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainGranja Monte Encinar, El Barraco, 05110 Ávila, SpainUnidad de Fisiología Animal, Departamento de Genética, Fisiología y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, SpainGranja Monte Encinar, El Barraco, 05110 Ávila, Spain(1) Background: Given the problems currently posed by the use of soybean meal in poultry feeding, its replacement with black soldier fly (BSF) meal may be a suitable strategy. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of this dietary replacement on laying performance, egg quality, and yolk nutritional composition in free-range reared hens. (2) Methods: Three diets were formulated: a control diet with 210 g/kg of soybean meal, a diet with 105 g/kg of soybean meal and 80 g/kg of BSF meal, and a diet with 160 g/kg of BSF meal. This eight-week-long study was performed with 126 Bovans Brown hens aged 36 weeks (six replicates of seven hens each per dietary treatment); (3) Results: The laying performance of hens was not influenced by the diet consumed. Neither was the yolk content in fat, protein, cholesterol, choline, B vitamins, and cholecalciferol affected. The dietary inclusion of BSF meal made yolk colour score and albumen Haugh units decrease (<i>p</i> < 0.001) by 51.1% and 12.0%, respectively. It also reduced the yolk content in retinol (by 10.1%, <i>p</i> = 0.0037), but it increased that of α- and γ-tocopherol (by 27.6%, <i>p</i> = 0.014, and 25.8%, <i>p</i> = 0.0077, respectively). A negative linear effect (<i>p</i> < 0.001) was observed on yolk zinc concentration and on the proportions of polyunsaturated and ω-3 fatty acids with increasing dietary dose of BSF meal; (4) Conclusions: Soybean meal could be fully replaced by BSF meal in the diet of hens without affecting the laying rate or the egg weight. However, the dietary inclusion of BSF meal led to paler yolks and impaired albumen quality, while it decreased the content of retinol and zinc and the proportions of polyunsaturated and ω-3 fatty acids in egg yolk.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3340<i>Hermetia illucens</i>henlaying performanceegg qualityfatty acid profilevitamin
spellingShingle Carlos Romero
Juan Carlos Cenalmor
Susana Chamorro
César Redondo
Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
Animals
<i>Hermetia illucens</i>
hen
laying performance
egg quality
fatty acid profile
vitamin
title Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
title_full Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
title_fullStr Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
title_short Effect of Different Dietary Doses of Black Soldier Fly Meal on Performance and Egg Quality in Free-Range Reared Laying Hens
title_sort effect of different dietary doses of black soldier fly meal on performance and egg quality in free range reared laying hens
topic <i>Hermetia illucens</i>
hen
laying performance
egg quality
fatty acid profile
vitamin
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3340
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AT susanachamorro effectofdifferentdietarydosesofblacksoldierflymealonperformanceandeggqualityinfreerangerearedlayinghens
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