EFFECT OF FEEDING BLACK SOLDIER FLY (Hermetia illucens) LARVAE MEAL ON PERFORMANCE OF MEAT TYPE DUCKS
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Date
2022-02-25
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COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES MANNUTHY, THRISSUR, KERALA VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY
Abstract
An experiment was conducted at the Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Kerala to study the effect of feeding black soldier fly (Hermitia illucens) larvae meal on meat type duck performance and carcass characteristics from zero to eight weeks of age.Ninety-six, day-old ducklings were randomly allotted into four dietary treatments with four replicates having six ducklings each in a completely randomized design. The different dietary treatments in this study were T1 - Control group formulated as per IS 1374 (2007) specifications, T2 - with 5 per cent black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) inclusion, T3 - with 10 per cent BSFLM inclusion and T4 - with 15 per cent BSFLM inclusion.The results of the study showed that the final body weight, cumulative body weight gain and cumulative feed intake of birds remained significantly unaffected by the different dietary inclusion levels of BSFLM, while the cumulative feed conversion ratio (FCR) was better in 10 per cent BSFLM group (T3) than all other treatment groups in most periods of experiments.There was no adverse effect for BSFLM inclusion on livability, nutrients digestibility and blood serum parameters except serum triglycerides which wassignificantly (p<0.05) lower in BSFLM fed groups compared to control. The total feed cost per bird at six and eight weeks of age was lowest for 15 per cent BSFLM group (T4) followed by 10 per cent (T3) and 5 per cent (T2) BSFLM groups and the same was highest in control group (T1). The profit per bird as well as per kg live weight was highest in T4 followed by T3 and T2 and the same was lowest in control group (T1). The carcass characteristics study at six weeks showed that dressed yield and ready to cook yield were significantly (p<0.05) higher in BSFLM fed groups
than control group. The carcass characteristics study conducted at eight weeks of age revealed that dressed yield was significantly (p<0.05) higher in 15 per cent BSFLM fed group (T4) than control group while 5 and 10 per cent BSFLM groups (T2 and T3) showed intermediate values.Based on the overall results of this study, it could be concluded that, the dietary inclusion of BSFL meal in meat type duck ration up to 15 per cent was profitable and did not negatively affect the body weight gain and feed intake. It is
better to rear commercial meat type ducks up to six weeks of age than up to eight weeks of age. However, further researches in meat type ducks are required to determine the highest level of BSFLM inclusion in duck ration without any adverse effect on production performance.