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SUMMARY: Edible insects, specifically the black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens), are emerging as a sustainable alternative to traditional protein sources in poultry diets. The BSF larvae, rich in protein and fat, show significant potential as a component of poultry feed, replacing conventional ingredients like fish meal and soybean meal. BSF's ability to convert organic waste into a nutrient-dense resource, comprising proteins, lipids, amino acids, and minerals, is noteworthy. Furthermore, BSF larvae are easy to rear and can be propagated on various substrates, contributing to reducing the environmental impacts resulting from organic waste accumulation. The nutritional profile of BSF, derived from an analysis of 47 articles, reveals its diverse macro- and micronutrient composition, making it a viable option for poultry feed. On a dry matter basis, BSF meal contains 49.8% crude protein, 22.1% ether extract, 11.2% crude fibre, 9.60% ash, 2.61% calcium, 0.98% phosphorus, and 5646 kcal/kg gross energy. The digestibility coefficients of BSF meal for broiler chickens, and laying hens were also evaluated, revealing promising results. BSF meal exhibits a rich amino acid profile, with lysine, leucine, and valine being the most abundant essential amino acids. These levels surpass those found in soybean meal and, except for lysine, fish meal. Despite the potential benefits, the use of BSF meal in animal feed presents challenges related to cost, availability, legal compliance and consumer acceptance. However, given the current limitations of protein-rich feeds and the high nutritional value of BSF, it warrants attention in animal production research. This review emphasises the benefits of using BSF meal as a substitute for protein-rich ingredients in poultry nutrition, given its comparable protein quality to conventional protein sources, such as soybean meal and fish meal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of fat supplementation with high palmitic acid enriched with lecithin on the performance, egg quality, and fatty acid profile of quails. This study applied a completely randomized design to 330 female quails (Cortunix cortunix japonica) which were allocated into 5 different groups with 3 replicates of 22 birds. The groups were assigned as follows: T0 = commercial diet (control), T1 = commercial diet + 2.5% fat + 6% lecithin of added fat, T2 = commercial diet + 2.5% commercial fat, T3 = commercial diet + 5% fat + 6 % lecithin of added fat, T4 = commercial diet + 5% commercial fat. The results showed that the treatment group did not give effects on performances. However, the treatment group with fat level of 2.5% and 5% increased the score of egg yolk and eggshell thickness. Moreover, the treatment group decreased fat content in terms of saturated fatty acids and n-6/n-3 ratio of quail eggs. In conclusion, fat supplementation containing high palmitic acid enriched with lecithin proves effective in improving egg quality. However, the performance remains relatively similar across the groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Egyptian Poultry Science Journal is the property of Egyptian Poultry Science Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Animal & Poultry Production is the property of Egyptian National Agricultural Library (ENAL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of different soybean oil (SO) and selenium yeast (SeY) levels in the diet of meat quails on productive performance, physicochemical, quality measurements, fatty acid profile, enzyme activity estimation, and oxidative stability of meat. A total of 288 one‐day old commercial meat quails are allocated into four groups according to a completely randomized experimental design, with two levels of SO (1.5% and 3.0%) and SeY (0 and 0.15 mg kg−1) in the feed. The supplementation period is 42 days. The use of up to 3% supplementation of SO in the diet improves (p < 0.05) the productive performance. The polyunsaturated acid content and thiobarbituric acid value in the meat are increased (p < 0.05) as an effect of the SO increase in the diet. The use of SeY in quail diets associates with 3% inclusion of SO and promotes improvements in the qualitative parameters of the quail meat. Therefore, the inclusion of 0.15 mg kg−1 of SeY in the diets is a viable alternative for improving the oxidative stability of meat since it improves the qualitative parameters of quail meat in diets with a high inclusion of SO. Practical Applications: These results have practical applicability in the meat industry, since it is possible to change the lipid profile of this raw material, meeting the requirement of the consumer market for healthy foods, reducing the total cholesterol content, and nutritionally desirable, through enrichment with polyunsaturated fatty acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The purpose of this study was to determine the metabolisable energy of high-protein distiller's dried grains with solubles (HP-DDGS) for meat quail (Coturnix coturnix coturnix; Experiment I) and evaluate the effects of dietary levels of HP-DDGS on animal performance, carcase characteristics, meat quality, and organ weights (Experiment II). 2. In Experiment 1, 96 meat quail were distributed in a completely randomised design with two treatments (reference or test diet) and six replicates of eight birds. The experimental period consisted of 5 d adaptation, followed by 5 d total excreta collection. The experimental diets consisted of a reference (control) and a test diet formulated with 800 g/kg reference diet and 200 g/kg HP-DDGS. 3. In Experiment 2, 612 meat quail were distributed in a completely randomised design fed one of six dietary levels of HP-DDGS (0, 85, 170, 255, 340, or 425 g/kg) as a replacement for soybean meal. At 42 d of age, birds were slaughtered and evaluated for carcase yield, organ weights, and meat quality. 4. Apparent metabolisable energy values corrected for nitrogen retention of HP-DDGS were 12.5 and 12.3 MJ/kg for males and females, respectively. 5. In the starter phase (1–21 d of age), increasing dietary HP-DDGS levels had a quadratic effect on body weight (BW) (P = 0.020) and body weight gain (BWG) (P = 0.019). The maximum BW and BWG values were estimated to be achieved with 296.0 and 296.2 g/kg dietary HP-DDGS, respectively. Overall (1–42 d of age), increasing dietary HP-DDGS levels in replacement of soybean meal did not affect animal performance, carcase yield, meat quality or organ weight in meat quail. 6. It was concluded that dietary HP-DDGS can fully replace soybean meal in meat quail diets without affecting growth performance, carcase yield, meat quality or organ weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first reports of quail breeding describe it as a little explored activity and used mainly for ornamentation. However, characteristics such as rapid growth, productivity precocity and low production cost, made this activity spread globally. Although there are other quail species, the Japanese quail has become the most used in industry and in the field of scientific research.Great technological advances have occurred over the years in the nutrition and feeding of these birds. Therefore, this review was prepared aiming to present the evolution of studies on nutrition and food and may contribute to future research. The great evolution of meat and egg production rates observed in quail farming is due to advances in genetics, improvement of management techniques, ambience and nutrition, with the development of studies using different ingredients in feed, thus meeting the production needs. However, constant updates are needed in research, considering advances in science, the population's food habits and needs, in addition to economic, well-being and environmental issues, observing production goals and genetic characteristics for each stage of life, sex of birds and the quality of quail products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical growth functions can explain the factors influencing an animal's growth pattern. However, there remains limited understanding of the growth curve of Kadaknath chickens, which is crucial for optimizing management and feeding practices. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the growth curve of indigenous Kadaknath chickens' body weight using four growth curve models: Logistic, Gompertz, Von Bertalanffy, and Richard. We analyzed 96 birds for this study. The models were fitted using Curve Expert and Minitab software, and we compared them based on Akaike's information, Bayesian information, adjusted R2, and RMSE criteria. The research revealed that the Gompertz and Richard models had higher coefficients of determination (R2) and lower RMSE values in both sexes compared to other models. The age at the inflection point was estimated to be between 11 to 17.5 weeks for males and 9 to 11.4 weeks for females. According to the Richard model, adult male birds weighed 2157g, and females weighed 1297g. In the Gompertz model, male birds weighed 2186g, and females weighed 1468g. The inflection weight of birds in the Richard model was estimated to be 797.53g for males and 519.66g for females, while in the Gompertz model, it was 803.67g for males and 510g for females. In conclusion, our study determined that the Gompertz model is a reliable predictor of the body weight of male and female Kadaknath chickens from hatching to adulthood. The Richard model also demonstrated high reliability, albeit slightly behind the Gompertz model in predictive accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Two experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of substitution levels, assay methods and adaptation length of broilers to experimental diets on metabolisable energy of corn and barley (Experiment 1) and soya bean meal (Experiment 2). In each experiment, the test feedstuffs proportionately replaced the reference diet at the rates of 150, 300 or 450 g/kg. Each treatment had 8 or 7 replicate cages containing three birds per cage. Broiler chickens were adapted to experimental diets for either 7 or 4 d prior to excreta collection on d 20 and 21. 2. Metabolisable energy was determined using the difference method at each substitution level and the regression method, using the 4 combinations of the substitution levels. 3. In Experiment 1, AME and AMEn were lower (P < 0.01) for barley than for maize, irrespective of the assay method and there was a trend for an adaptation × cereal grains interaction (P < 0.10) for AME determined by the difference regression method. For maize, AME and AMEn calculated using regression or the difference method were not significantly different, whereas barley AME and AMEn values were greater (P < 0.01) when derived using regression analysis. 4. In Experiment 2, there was no significant adaptation length × substitution levels interaction. The AME and AMEn values were lowest (P < 0.01) at 150 g/kg SBM inclusion level when calculated using the difference method. On the other hand, AME and AMEn values determined by the regression method were not influenced by substitution levels. 5. It was concluded that the influence of substitution levels on assayed metabolisable energy is feedstuff-dependent and that the regression method produced more consistent metabolisable energy values in a feedstuff-independent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Changes in feather length and weight and daily losses of down, contour feathers, remiges and retrices were studied in two commercial broiler strains to determine feather growth and moult in broilers up to 112 d of age. 2. Ten pens of 20 chicks for each sex x strain were fed adequate amounts of dietary protein in a four-phase feeding programme. Ten birds were sampled per genotype at 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98 and 112 d. Feather loss was determined for individual birds caged within a nylon net. 3. All feathers were dry-plucked from each of seven tracts, with representative feathers from the capital-cervical, dorsopelvic and interscapular, pectoral and femoral tracts being randomly selected. Three rectrices of the dorsocaudal tract and three primaries and secondaries of the humeral-alar tract of the right wing were evaluated. 4. The length of the selected feathers was measured, and the feathers from each tract and from the whole bird were weighed. 5. A wide range of rates of maturing (0.0250–0.0907/d) and mature weights (9.62–52.9 g) were evident between sampled tracts. 6. Feather weight failed to predict some moults which were detected by the measurement of feather losses. From the weight data, moulting was evident only in the humeral-alar and dorsocaudal tracts, whereas, when daily losses were measured, contour feathers accounted for over 0.7 proportion of feather losses. Logistic equations adequately described the cumulative losses of down, contour feathers and remiges. 7. Feather loss needs to be considered when feather growth is determined from feather weight at different ages. 8. The rate of maturing (B) of feathers was numerically higher in Ross males and females than in the Cobb strain. In females, B was higher than in males (0.0483 vs. 0335/d) but the mature weight was lower (162 vs. 230 g). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of fermented potato protein (FPP), supplied through drinking water, on growth performance of broiler chickens. A total of 288 male broiler chickens were divided into two groups: a control group and an experimental group supplemented with 0.01% FPP in drinking water. The FPP group had a significantly higher BWG and ADG (P<0.01) and significantly improved FCR (P<0.05). The percentage of breast was significantly higher (P<0.05) in fermented potato protein (FPP) group. The FPP group had an increased villus height (P<0.05) in duodenum and jejunum. Expression of IGF-1 gene in the liver was significantly higher in the FPP group than in the control group (P<0.05), whereas GHR gene expression did not differ between the groups at 37 days. This study suggests that FPP supplementation in drinking water improves growth performance of broiler chickens by stimulating IGF-1 gene expression in the liver and improving the intestinal morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. This work investigates the apparent metabolisable energy (AME), its nitrogen-corrected form (AMEn) and amino acid (AA) digestibility coefficients of the microalgae Spirulina platensis as an ingredient in broiler chicken diets. 2. One group of birds was fed with a basal control diet (BD), and another was fed with a test diet composed of the BD with the addition of the microalgae at a proportion of 200 g/kg. AME and AMEn were assessed by total excreta collection and indigestibility analysis using acid-insoluble ash (AIA) as a marker. 3. The microalgae comprised 888.0 g/kg dry matter (DM), 18.42 MJ/kg gross energy, 514.7 g/kg crude protein, 9.9 g/kg ether extract, 10.6 g/kg crude fibre, 94.4 g/kg ash, 3.1 g/kg Ca and 11.0 g/kg P. 4. The values obtained for AME (13.48 MJ/kg DM) and AMEn (11.72 MJ/kg DM) were higher (p < 0.01) than those obtained using the AIA method (9.39-8.29 MJ/kg DM). The microalgae ileal digestibility coefficients were 0.80 ± 0.04 and 0.78 ± 0.04 for essential and non-essential AA, respectively. 5. Overall, the metabolisable energy content and digestibility of AA for S. platensis indicated that the microalgae are potentially an alternative nutrient source for broilers. The AIA method underestimated AME and AMEn in comparison to the total excreta collection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Two experiments were carried out to determine the levels of supplementation of inorganic selenium (Se) and vitamin E (VE) in diets of quails aged 0–14 and 14–35 days old. A completely randomized design was used in a factorial design (Se = 0.1125; 0.2250; 0.3375 and 0.4500 mg kg−1 diet−1 × VE = 10; 23; 36 and 49 IU kg−1 diet−1). In experiment 1, quail (n = 2,400) were aged 0–14 days and were divided into 16 treatments, with three replicates of 50 birds. In experiment 2, quail (n = 1,680) were aged 14–35 days and were divided into the same treatments, with three replicates of 35 birds. At age 0–14 days, the levels of VE did not affect performance (p > .05); however, the feed conversion (FC) was influenced by a quadratic effect (p = .0515), according to the level of Se, with a higher level estimated at 0.29 mg Se kg−1 diet−1. At age 14–35 days, there was a linear effect with interaction (Se × VE), for FC (p = .0150) and weight gain (WG; p = .0266). FC (Se, p = .0048 and VE, p = .0019) and WG (Se, p = .0049 and VE, p = .0068) improved linearly with increasing levels of Se and VE. The feed intake (FI) decreased linearly (p = .0582) as a function of VE. The carcass yield showed a quadratic effect (p = .0056) on the levels of VE, with a higher yield estimation of 27.24 IU VE/kg of diet. It can be concluded that the optimum level of supplementation at age 0–14 days was 0.29 mg Se kg−1 diet−1 and 10 IU VE kg−1 diet−1 and at age 14–35 days, it was 0.4500 mg Se kg−1 diet−1 and 49 IU of VE kg−1 diet−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analysed markers of stress, plasma creatinine and T3 content, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), growth hormone receptor (GHR), uncoupling protein (UCP), adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COX III) mRNA expression in the liver and muscle of high (0.22 g/g) and low (0.14 g/g) feed efficiency (FE) meat quail at three different air temperatures, comfortable, heat and cold stress, for 24 h. High FE quail presented higher plasma T3 and lower creatinine levels. IGF-I mRNA expression was higher in the livers of high FE quail than in the livers of low FE quail under both comfortable and cold stress conditions. In the muscle, regardless of the environment, high FE birds showed higher IGF-I mRNA expression. High FE birds also showed higher GHR mRNA expression under comfortable conditions. Regarding the environment, higher expression was observed in birds at comfortable conditions, and lower expression in birds under heat stress. UCP mRNA expression in the liver was lower in high FE birds and higher under heat stress compared with the other conditions. Low and high FE birds showed greater ANT mRNA expression in the muscle under cold stress. Greater mRNA COX III expressions were observed in the liver and muscle of quails under comfortable conditions. Our results suggest that temperature affects the expression of genes related to growth and mitochondrial energy production, and quail with different FEs respond differently to environmental stimuli. In comfortable conditions, high FE animals show higher IGF-I mRNA expression and plasma T3 and lower creatinine content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: L. Gautam Key words: Body weight, growth pattern, Kadaknath, Non-linear models INTRODUCTION Domestication of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) began around 9,900 B.C. (Sawai et al., 2010), and today chickens [...]