Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council, Turin, Italy.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2024 Sep;108(5):1562-1577. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13997. Epub 2024 Jun 12.
The overall beneficial effect of live black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) on the welfare of broiler chickens, turkeys, and laying hens has already been discussed in the literature. However, scant information is available regarding the benefits of feeding live BSFL to medium-growing chicken hybrids reared under organic/free-range conditions, and whose welfare is frequently cited as being inadequate. The aim of this research was to advance our knowledge of this topic. To this end, 240 label naked neck birds (Hubbard JA57 hybrid) were assigned, at 21 days of age, to four experimental groups (6 replicates/treatment, 10 chickens/replicate), created according to sex (M/F) and the provision of a 10% live BSFL dietary supplementation (control males, control females, larvae males, and larvae females), and raised until 82 days of age. We performed behavioural observations, a tonic immobility test, and an avoidance distance (AD) test. We assessed feather damage and cleanliness, hock burn, footpad dermatitis, and skin lesion scores, and determined the concentration of excreta corticosterone metabolites (ECM) and the heterophile to lymphocyte heterophile/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio. The behavioural observations demonstrated increased physical and foraging activity (p < 0.05) in the live BSFL administered groups compared with C ones, providing valuable data on the explorative and recreational behaviour of this chicken genotype. The results also evidenced the usefulness of live BSFL as a fear reducer in females, as those receiving the BSFL supplement moved closer to the operator during the AD test (p < 0.01). No physical injuries or damage were observed on the birds, regardless of whether they received the BSFL supplementation or not. The ECM were unaffected by BSFL supplementation, while the H/L ratio was higher in the larvae groups than in the control ones (p = 0.050). In conclusion, live BSFL provision could constitute a powerful tool for improving life quality in medium-growing chickens. Further research is required to clarify the stress modulation role of live BSFL on poultry production.
活黑水虻幼虫（BSFL）对肉鸡、火鸡和蛋鸡福利的整体有益影响已在文献中讨论过。然而，关于在有机/自由放养条件下饲养中生长型鸡杂交种并喂养活 BSFL 的益处的信息很少，而这些鸡的福利经常被认为是不足的。本研究旨在增进对此主题的了解。为此，将 240 只标记的裸颈鸟（Hubbard JA57 杂交种）在 21 日龄时分配到四个实验组（6 个重复/处理，10 只鸡/重复），根据性别（M/F）和提供 10%活 BSFL 饮食补充（对照雄性、对照雌性、幼虫雄性和幼虫雌性）进行分组，并饲养至 82 日龄。我们进行了行为观察、紧张性不动测试和回避距离（AD）测试。我们评估了羽毛损伤和清洁度、跗关节烧伤、脚垫皮炎和皮肤损伤评分，并测定了粪便皮质酮代谢物（ECM）浓度和异嗜性白细胞与淋巴细胞（H/L）比值。行为观察表明，与 C 组相比，给予活 BSFL 的组的物理和觅食活动增加（p<0.05），为这种鸡基因型的探索性和娱乐性行为提供了有价值的数据。结果还表明，活 BSFL 可作为雌性的恐惧减少剂，因为接受 BSFL 补充剂的鸡在 AD 测试中更接近操作者（p<0.01）。无论是否接受 BSFL 补充，鸟类均未观察到任何身体伤害或损伤。BSFL 补充剂对 ECM 没有影响，而幼虫组的 H/L 比值高于对照组（p=0.050）。总之，提供活 BSFL 可能是提高中生长型鸡生活质量的有力工具。需要进一步研究来阐明活 BSFL 对家禽生产的应激调节作用。
