Effects of Partial Replacement of Soybean with Local Alternative Sources on Growth, Blood Parameters, Welfare, and Economic Indicators of Local and Commercial Broilers

Simple Summary While the demand for poultry meat is increasing, arable land for crop production is limited. Therefore, the use of locally produced alternative sources in chicken diets has become a necessity. The substitution of soybean with local by-products such as sunflower meal, brewers' dried grain, and wheat middlings or a combination of local by-products with black soldier larvae meal was evaluated in broilers. The substitution of soybean in broiler diets did not affect growth performance. However, the diet with black soldier fly larvae meal increased the production costs because of its high price. Therefore, lowering black soldier fly larvae meal price is the key issue hindering its inclusion in broiler diets.Abstract The effects of the partial replacement of soybean with alternative local agri-industry by-products and black soldier fly (BSF) larvae meal on broiler growth performance, blood biochemistry, welfare, and, subsequently, economic performance of these diets were evaluated. A total of 524 day-old chicks from a local and a commercial strain were fed one of the three diets from the day of hatch to the slaughter age. The diets were the following: a soybean-based control diet, a diet in which soybean was partially replaced (SPR) with agri-industrial by-products, or a diet with BSF larvae meal added to the SPR (SPR + BSF). There was no effect of the diets on the slaughter weight, total feed consumption, and feed conversion of the chickens. The SPR + BSF diet reduced the blood glucose, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, protein, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels in the local chickens and the gamma-glutamyl transferase, protein, and creatinine levels in the commercial broilers. The negative effect of the SPR diet on plumage cleanliness in the commercial broilers was alleviated by the SPR + BSF diet, whereas 100% of the local birds presented either slight or moderate soiling. The results showed that, due to the high cost of the BSF larvae meal, the SPR + BSF diet was not economically feasible. In a further study, the price trends of BSF larvae will be examined from the standpoint of economic profitability conditions.