Document type : Article published in Watt Poultry
Author: Elisabeth Doughman
Preview: It could also improve the sustainability of feed production. Insect farming could be a practical, economical and sustainable approach to create an alternative high-value protein produced for use in poultry feed. Insect proteins also offer immunity improvements in poultry and livestock, supporting health and reducing the need for antibiotics.
In the wild, poultry will naturally eat insects, considered to be a protein-rich food source high in energy such as lauric acid, a C-12 saturated fatty acid with demonstrated value-added, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. The short lifecycles of insects - typically less than 50 days - and ability to thrive on a variety of feedstocks make it an easy protein source to produce.
Researchers are now looking at ways to convert insect protein into a component of poultry diets. The use of insects to bioconvert by-products from other food production, like food waste, manure and other agricultural waste streams, could potentially minimize waste and upcycle nutrients, improving the sustainability of the poultry supply chain.
In addition, insects can be bred in significant numbers in large-scale factory conditions that require a smaller environmental footprint than soybean meal and fishmeal with reduced land and water use and waste and pollution emissions. Insect protein production occurs in a circular system, helping to close water, nutrient and carbon cycles.
Insects can provide enrichment benefits too
New research from Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in The Netherlands indicates that insect protein can provide more than dietary benefits for poultry. It can also serve as a form of enrichment to improve the welfare of broilers. [...]
The results [of two recently published studies] showed that access to black soldier fly larvae encouraged the natural behavior of foraging, made the birds more active and, in some cases, led to better leg health [...]
Research center to advance insect farming
Scientists from Texas A&M University, Mississippi State University and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (UIPUI) have established the Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming to focus on finding solutions for sustainable insect protein production - both for human feed production and as feed for poultry, livestock and aquaculture. [...]
The goal of the center is to bridge academia with industry to explore the safe and effective use of insect protein. One of the largest challenges the Center plans to tackle is figuring out how to produce insects at the volume needed for the poultry industry.
