Establishing an intensive black soldier fly (hermetia illucens) farming system as a protein supplementation for smallscale poultry production

An abstract of the research paper presented to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, in partial requirement on the course DVT 55204 – Research Project. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) has been proposed as alternate protein sources to maise and soybean meals and chicken feed additives. An intensive Black Soldier Fly (BSF) intensive farming method was studied to determine its suitability for smallscale poultry farming in Malaysia. During the production of BSFL, the growth performance and
nutrient composition of BSFL were assessed. The treatment groups for the production of BSFL were divided into three different feed substrate groups: (A) chicken manure
with fruit wastes served as the control group, (B) Bokashi protein meal with fruit wastes and (C) soybean meal with fruit waste served as the experimental groups. One
gram of 5-day-old BSF eggs was placed in each feeding substrate group, and growth performance was monitored for 20 days. Several parameters were measured, including the weight, length, height, and width of the BSFL. The data were recorded every three days until the larvae reached two and a half weeks. The sand roasting method was implemented to dry the BSF larvae, and nutritional analysis was carried out using standard proximate analysis. Results showed BSF larvae supplemented with Bokashi protein had the highest growth performance compared to other groups. The nutritional
findings of BSF larvae that fed with Bokashi meal showed 21.0 g/100g of crude protein, 25.5 g/100g of total fat and 10.6 g/100g of carbohydrate. Meanwhile, the moisture content at 34.1 g/100g, 10.2 g/100g of crude fiber, and 8.8 g/100g of total ash. The nutritional analysis revealed the crude protein and crude fat were regarded as low due to improper drying method. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the larvae's growth performance were unaffected (p > 0.05) by the various feeding x substrates provided. A proper drying method could obtain a high yield of dry matters
of BSFL.
Keywords: Black Soldier Fly, Black Soldier Fly larvae, intensive farming, growth performance, nutritional analysis