Haematology and serum biochemical indices of broiler chickens fed full-fat black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal-based diets as a fishmeal substitute

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the replacement of fishmeal with full-fat black soldier fly meal (FFBSFLM) as an animal source protein in broiler chicken diets using haematology and serum biochemical indices as response criteria. A total of 150 Day-old chicks were assigned to five dietary treatments, of three replicates and ten chicks per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design. The FFBSFLM was added at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% and designated diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The feeding trial lasted for 56 days. At the end of the feeding trial, 3 birds per treatment were selected and slaughtered for blood collection for the haematology and biochemical studies. All data were subjected to analysis of variance. Results obtained for antinutrients revealed that, FFBSFLM is higher in haemaglutinin and trypsin inhibitor compared to tannin and phytate. Results showed that among the parameters measured for the haematological responses, only haemoglobin, lymphocytes and MCH were significantly (P˂0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments, while for biochemical indices all parameters were significantly (P˂0.05) affected except for globulin and low-density lipoprotein. Birds fed diet 4 recorded the highest PCV (32.67%), haemoglobin concentration (5.20g/dl) and highest red blood cell (19.33 x 10⁶/ µl), highest aspartate aminotransferase (205.30 U/I) was recorded in birds fed diet 4, while lowest aspartate aminotransferase (186.80 U/I) was recorded in birds fed diet 1. Due to high level of haemagglutinin in the larvae meal, further processing of the larvae meal is recommended before use to enhance the overall well-being of the broilers.