Insects can promote sustainable livestock farming being an environmentally friendly feed with a rich nutritional profile which may enhance livestock health and welfare to varying degrees, depending on the type of product used (e.g., protein meal, fat, live or dried larvae). In this context, the present study evaluated the effects of the supplementation (as an enrichment) over the diet with live larvae of Hermetia illucens (HI) on egg chemical composition, fatty acid profile, and sensory characteristics. To this purpose, laying hens from two genotypes (Novogen Brown and Novogen White) were randomly allocated to 8 pens of a multi-tier system and fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet. From 36 to 40 weeks of age, half of the pens received live HI larvae (supplementing 10% of the daily feed intake) offered in two circular feeders per pen, once daily. After 35 days of enrichment, a total of 400 eggs (50 per pen; 4 pens with and 4 without enrichment) were collected. Data were submitted to ANOVA with HI enrichment and genotype with interaction as fixed effects and the pen as a random effect, using the PROC GLIMMIX of SAS. The HI enrichment did not affect most of egg rheological and physical traits (p>0.05), whereas it decreased shell percentage (9.75% vs. 9.93%; p=0.017) and albumen pH (8.90 vs. 8.97; p=0.065) in comparison with the control group. Albumen protein content was lower in the eggs from the enriched hens compared to those of the control group (10.5% vs 10.9; p=0.019). In the yolk, the rates of C14:0 (+159%; p<0.001), minor SFAs and MUFAs, and conjugated linoleic acid (C18:2 trans 9-11) (+12%; p<0.001) were higher in eggs from enriched hens compared to eggs of the control group. As for the sensorial evaluation, a triangular test revealed no significant differences between the eggs of the two feeding treatments. In conclusion, the enrichment with live HI larvae at 10% of feed intake did not impair egg nutritional or sensory quality and may promote animal welfare by favouring natural foraging behaviours.
Effect of enrichment with live insect larvae (Hermetia illucens) on egg quality in laying hens
Pravato M.
;Bordignon F.;Xiccato G.;Trocino A.
2025
Abstract
Insects can promote sustainable livestock farming being an environmentally friendly feed with a rich nutritional profile which may enhance livestock health and welfare to varying degrees, depending on the type of product used (e.g., protein meal, fat, live or dried larvae). In this context, the present study evaluated the effects of the supplementation (as an enrichment) over the diet with live larvae of Hermetia illucens (HI) on egg chemical composition, fatty acid profile, and sensory characteristics. To this purpose, laying hens from two genotypes (Novogen Brown and Novogen White) were randomly allocated to 8 pens of a multi-tier system and fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet. From 36 to 40 weeks of age, half of the pens received live HI larvae (supplementing 10% of the daily feed intake) offered in two circular feeders per pen, once daily. After 35 days of enrichment, a total of 400 eggs (50 per pen; 4 pens with and 4 without enrichment) were collected. Data were submitted to ANOVA with HI enrichment and genotype with interaction as fixed effects and the pen as a random effect, using the PROC GLIMMIX of SAS. The HI enrichment did not affect most of egg rheological and physical traits (p>0.05), whereas it decreased shell percentage (9.75% vs. 9.93%; p=0.017) and albumen pH (8.90 vs. 8.97; p=0.065) in comparison with the control group. Albumen protein content was lower in the eggs from the enriched hens compared to those of the control group (10.5% vs 10.9; p=0.019). In the yolk, the rates of C14:0 (+159%; p<0.001), minor SFAs and MUFAs, and conjugated linoleic acid (C18:2 trans 9-11) (+12%; p<0.001) were higher in eggs from enriched hens compared to eggs of the control group. As for the sensorial evaluation, a triangular test revealed no significant differences between the eggs of the two feeding treatments. In conclusion, the enrichment with live HI larvae at 10% of feed intake did not impair egg nutritional or sensory quality and may promote animal welfare by favouring natural foraging behaviours.
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