Inclusion of up to 20% Black Soldier Fly larvae meal in broiler chicken diet has a minor effect on caecal microbiota.

Background: The Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSFL) are a source of nutrients and bioactive compounds in broiler diets. Some components of the BSFL may serve as a prebiotic or may impact the intestinal microbiota of the broilers by other modes of action, which in turn can affect the health and performance of broilers. Here, we investigate the impact of up to 20% BSFL in broiler diets on the diversity and composition of the broiler's microbiota. Methods: Four hundred broilers were fed five iso-nutritious experimental diets with increasing levels of BSFL meal reaching 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% in the finisher diets. Eight caecal content samples coming from each of the eight replicates per treatment were collected at two time points (day 21 and day 42) for DNA extraction and sequencing of the V3-V4 regions using Illumina MiSeq 2 × 300 bp pair-end sequencing with 341f and 805r primers. Analysis of variance and Spearman's correlation were performed, while QIIME2, DADA2, and Calypso were used for data analysis. Results: When broilers were 21 days of age, the abundance of two groups of sequence variants representing Enterococcus and unclassified Christensenellaceae was significantly lower (p-value = 0.048 and p-value = 0.025, respectively) in the 20% BSFL group compared to the 0% BSFL group. There was no relevant alteration in the microbiota diversity at that stage. On day 42, the Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated that the sequence variants representing the genus Coprococcus showed a negative relationship with the BSFL inclusion levels (p-value = 0.043). The sequence variants representing the genus Roseburia and Dehalobacterium demonstrated a positive relationship with the BSFL dietary inclusion (p-value = 0.0069 and p-value = 0.0034, respectively). There was a reduction in the dissimilarity index (ANOSIM) caused by the 20% BSFL dietary inclusion. Conclusion: The addition of up to 20% BSFL in broiler diets did not affect the overall caeca microbiota diversity or composition at day 21. On day 42, there was a reduction in the beta diversity caused by the 20% BSFL dietary inclusion. The abundance of the bacterial group Roseburia was increased by the BSFL dietary inclusion, and it may be beneficial to broiler immunity and performance.

An Initial Study on the Use of Machine Learning and Radio Frequency Identification Data for Predicting Health Outcomes in Free-Range Laying Hens.

Maintaining the health and welfare of laying hens is key to achieving peak productivity and has become significant for assuring consumer confidence in the industry. Free-range egg production systems represent diverse environments, with a range of challenges that undermine flock performance not experienced in more conventional production systems. These challenges can include increased exposure to parasites and bacterial or viral infection, along with injuries and plumage damage resulting from increased freedom of movement and interaction with flock-mates. The ability to forecast the incidence of these health challenges across the production lifecycle for individual laying hens could result in an opportunity to make significant economic savings. By delivering the opportunity to reduce mortality rates and increase egg laying rates, the implementation of flock monitoring systems can be a viable solution. This study investigates the use of Radio Frequency Identification technologies (RFID) and machine learning to identify production system usage patterns and to forecast the health status for individual hens. Analysis of the underpinning data is presented that focuses on identifying correlations and structure that are significant for explaining the performance of predictive models that are trained on these challenging, highly unbalanced, datasets. A machine learning workflow was developed that incorporates data resampling to overcome the dataset imbalance and the identification/refinement of important data features. The results demonstrate promising performance, with an average 28% of Spotty Liver Disease, 33% round worm, and 33% of tape worm infections correctly predicted at the end of production. The analysis showed that monitoring hens during the early stages of egg production shows similar performance to models trained with data obtained at later periods of egg production. Future work could improve on these initial predictions by incorporating additional data streams to create a more complete view of flock health.

Black soldier fly larvae in broiler diets improve broiler performance and modulate the immune system.

Non-conventional feed ingredients are receiving more interest in their ability to increase farming efficiency, sustainability and animal performance. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal rate of inclusion level of the full-fat black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in broiler diets and to evaluate their impact on performance, nutrient digestibility, and the immune system (blood cells and intraepithelial lymphocytes). A total of 400 male day-old Ross 308 broilers were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups with 8 replicates each. Five inclusion levels of full-fat BSFL were investigated across starter (0, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%), grower and finisher diets (0, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%). All diets were formulated based on digestible amino acid values according to the Aviagen (2016) recommendations. A polynomial regression at different degrees was performed to analyse broiler performance parameters (body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio), nutrient digestibility, and blood cell count. Intraepithelial lymphocyte population data was analysed performing univariate linear regression. During the entire experimental period (from 2 to 42 d), BSFL inclusion levels decreased the feed conversion ratio by 10% in broilers that received 20% BSFL in their diets (P < 0.05). Lymphocytes and white blood cell count decreased linearly by 47.7% and 35.9%, respectively, with up to 20% BSFL inclusion (P < 0.001). A 4-fold decrease in CD3+ T lymphocytes and a 9.7-fold decrease of CD3+CD8+ intestinal cytotoxic T lymphocytes occurred in broilers fed 20% BSFL compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the inclusion of BSFL can improve broiler performance and potentially reduce immune response energy expenditure in birds fed 20% BSFL for 42 d.

Technological Quality, Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Profile of Broiler Meat Enhanced by Dietary Inclusion of Black Soldier Fly Larvae.

We evaluated the effects of full-fat black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) on broiler carcass composition, cut yield, and breast meat quality. Broilers were fed for 42 days with up to 20% dietary inclusion of BSFL (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%). On day 42, 120 broilers were slaughtered, and images were taken using computed tomography. Breasts, drumsticks, and thighs were collected for cut yield determination. The pH, color, lipid oxidation, cooking loss, shear force, amino acid profile, and fatty acid profile of the breast meat were assessed. There was no dietary effect on carcass composition or meat quality parameters except for fatty and amino acids compositions. When 20% BSFL was included in the diet, individual fatty and amino acids, such as lauric and myristic acids, aspartic acid, glutamine, and lysine, increased by 22.0-, 5.50-, 1.08-, 1.06-, and 1.06-fold, respectively (p < 0.05). Although total polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased, eicosapentaenoic fatty acids (EPA) increased by 78% in the 20% BSFL inclusion group. In conclusion, up to 20%, dietary full-fat BSFL did not affect key meat characteristics but positively increased the levels of the health-claimable omega-3 fatty acid EPA.

Managing Free-Range Laying Hens-Part B: Early Range Users Have More Pathology Findings at the End of Lay but Have a Significantly Higher Chance of Survival-An Indicative Study.

While free-range laying hens frequently experience health and welfare challenges, the contribution of range use towards these risks are largely unknown. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the survival, health and welfare of commercial free-range laying hens and explore the association with early range use. Range use of 9375 Lohmann Brown hens housed within five flocks was assessed during 18-21 weeks of age and individual hens were classified as "rangers" (frequent range users), "roamers" (intermittent range users), and "stayers" (rare/no range users) were then subject to necropsy at 74 weeks of age. Rangers and roamers were three times and 2.4 times more likely to survive than stayers, respectively (p = 0.001). Overall, rangers had significantly better feather cover and more lesions associated with spotty liver diseases compared to roamers and stayers (p = 0.001). Similarly, rangers and roamers had a higher prevalence of A. galli infection and less frequent signs of fatty liver syndrome compared to stayers. Rangers had a higher proportion of hens with full ovary follicle production compared to stayers and roamers (p = 0.035). This information is highly relevant to consider the targeted support of different flock subpopulations to improve hen health and welfare, directly affecting farm profitability. Further research on other farms is warranted to investigate the transferability of the observed results.