Effect of Dietary Tenebrio molitor Meal on the Production Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the effect of the incorporation of Tenebrio molitor meal (TM) as partial replacement of soybean meal in the diet of layer hens on the production performance and quality characteristics of eggs. The trial included 90 layers at the age of 33 weeks allocated to 5 dietary groups. Each group consisted of 6 replicate cages with 3 layers per cage. The layers were fed a basal diet (C) and diets including TM in amounts of 1% (T1), 2% (T2), 3% (T3), and 4% (T4) for a period of 6 weeks. The results demonstrated different effect of the incorporation of TM in the layers' diet depending on the dose. After the first week of the trial, it was associated with significant reduction of the egg production and impaired feed conversion ratio in the birds fed 2% TM, which was also observed in T4 from the 4th till the 6th week of the experiment. The weight of the eggs and the albumen showed linear response to the inclusion of the TM in the diet, as both decreased with the increasing levels of the insect meal. The latter also affected the colour of the yolk, which was lighter in all the groups consuming TM in comparison to the control group.