Black soldier fly larvae meal draws fresh interest in broilers

Black soldier fly larvae meal is getting another look as a soybean meal replacement in broilers, this time in a new Veterinary Sciences paper focused on performance, meat quality, and health status. The study, by Ahmed A. A. Abdel-Wareth, Md Salahuddin, and Prantic Kumar Goswami, used 160 Ross 708 chicks and compared diets in which black soldier fly larvae meal replaced 0%, 20%, 40%, or 60% of soybean meal across the production cycle. The paper lands as poultry nutrition teams continue to search for protein sources that are less exposed to soybean price swings, import dependence, and sustainability pressure. (svuijas.journals.ekb.eg)

That interest has been building for years. Reviews of the poultry literature describe Hermetia illucens as a nutrient-dense feed ingredient with a useful amino acid profile and potential benefits for circular agriculture, because larvae can convert lower-value organic streams into protein and fat. At the same time, the science has been mixed enough to keep nutritionists cautious. A 2023 systematic review in Veterinary Sciences found evidence that black soldier fly ingredients can support broiler health and performance, but outcomes vary by inclusion rate, feed form, processing, and whether the ingredient is replacing soybean meal, soybean oil, or other proteins. (mdpi.com)

That variability shows up clearly in prior broiler work. One PubMed-indexed study on partial or complete replacement of soybean meal with commercial black soldier fly larvae meal reported enough interest to examine growth, tibia traits, cecal short-chain fatty acids, and excreta metabolomics, reflecting how the conversation has moved beyond simple weight gain to gut and metabolic effects. Another broiler study in Animals tested 2% and 4% inclusion of full-fat Hermetia illucens or Tenebrio molitor meals in 1,750 Ross 308 birds and found no adverse effects on growth performance, feed intake, feed conversion, or mortality. In that trial, insect-fed birds had higher breast yield than controls, while some product-quality signals emerged at the upper end: birds fed 4% H. illucens had lower breast pH and higher cooking loss, thigh fat increased in a dose-dependent way, and T. molitor affected some serum cholesterol measures and ileal length. Overall, though, the authors concluded that both insect meals could be safely incorporated at low inclusion levels without harming growth, health, or carcass quality. But other published work has found that higher substitution rates can compromise growth or carcass quality, and a 2022 paper in British Poultry Science warned that while high-quality black soldier fly larvae protein may compare favorably with soy, the resulting meat lipid profile may shift in ways that raise meat-quality questions. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

The regulatory backdrop matters, too. In the U.S., AAFCO’s ingredient definition for dried black soldier fly larvae allows its use in poultry feed, as well as salmonid and swine feed, when produced from feed-grade materials and used consistent with good feeding practices. That doesn’t settle questions about ideal inclusion rates, but it does mean insect meal is no longer just an experimental concept for poultry formulators. It’s an ingredient category with a pathway into commercial feed, provided nutrition, safety, and economics line up. (aafco.org)

Expert commentary in the formal literature has been measured rather than promotional. The 2023 systematic review concluded that black soldier fly meal or oil can affect broiler health parameters, including cecal fermentation products and some immune responses, but not always in the same direction across studies. A recent meta-analysis summarized in Animal Production Science suggested black soldier fly inclusion appears safe up to about 10% in broiler diets, with effectiveness influenced by feeding duration. That broader “threshold” theme also appears outside broilers. In flathead grey mullet, partially defatted black soldier fly meal did not significantly impair growth, but the best overall response was seen at 10% inclusion; higher levels were associated with poorer intestinal condition and spleen changes, even without overt enteritis. Cross-species findings do not translate directly into poultry formulation, but they reinforce a familiar message: insect ingredients may have a workable range rather than an unlimited replacement ceiling. (mdpi.com)

Another reason veterinarians may want to read these broiler data carefully is that “low soy” itself is not automatically benign. In a separate Animals study, reducing soybean meal by 10% in broiler diets increased mortality and feed intake during days 22 to 42 and reduced ether extract availability, while also shifting cecal microbiota toward higher Campylobacterota and Helicobacter. Adding raffinose partly modulated some of those microbiota changes and showed a tendency to reduce mortality, but it also reduced some measures of energy and dry matter utilization. The practical takeaway is straightforward: replacing soybean meal is not just about swapping protein sources on paper. Gut function, nutrient utilization, and microbial ecology can all move with the formulation.

Signals from other livestock species point to similar complexity. In post-weaning piglets, daily supplementation with live Tenebrio molitor larvae improved early feed efficiency and growth, reduced diarrhea and respiratory disorders, and helped piglets on a lower-protein diet perform comparably to pigs on a standard-protein control diet. That does not answer the broiler question directly, but it adds to the wider evidence that insect-based ingredients may have functional effects beyond crude protein contribution, especially around feed intake and resilience during stressful production phases.

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals working with poultry operations, this study adds to a growing evidence base on how alternative proteins affect bird health, carcass outcomes, and the practical realities of feed formulation. If black soldier fly larvae meal can replace part of soybean meal without hurting growth or blood chemistry, it could help producers diversify protein sourcing and potentially improve resilience in volatile feed markets. But veterinarians should also keep an eye on the tradeoffs flagged in earlier studies, especially digestibility, fat composition, gut effects, and whether high inclusion rates create performance drag or downstream meat-quality concerns. The low-inclusion insect-meal literature is encouraging, but separate low-soy work shows that reducing soybean meal can itself worsen survival, nutrient use, and microbiota if diets are not carefully balanced. In other words, insect protein may be useful, but it’s still a formulation problem, not a simple one-for-one ingredient swap. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: The next phase of evidence will likely focus on defining commercially workable inclusion thresholds, standardizing processing quality, and comparing black soldier fly meal with other low-soy strategies rather than with soybean meal alone. More replication in commercial settings, plus cost, gut-health, and carcass-quality data, will determine whether black soldier fly larvae meal remains a niche sustainability story or becomes a routine tool in broiler nutrition programs. Related broiler work on phytogenic additives such as Stevia rebaudiana extract also shows how much attention is now shifting toward meat-quality outcomes, not just growth rate, so future insect-meal studies will likely be judged on product quality as much as on feed conversion. (publish.csiro.au)