ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1638495

This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Nutritional Strategies for Improving Health Status, Egg and Meat Quality in PoultryView all 12 articles

Changes in Growth Performance, Immune Function, and Meat Quality of Yellow-Feathered Broilers Fed Scarabaeiform Larvae Meal during Early-Mid Growth Phases

Provisionally accepted
  • Shihezi University, Shihezi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This study evaluated eplacing soybean meal with Scarabaeiform larvae (Sl) meal at different doses and stages on growth performance, slaughter traits, meat quality, immune function, and gut microbiota in yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 150 one-day-old male broilers were randomly allocated into five groups: C (control, 0% Sl throughout), 4% Sl (Full) (4% Sl throughout), 8% Sl (Full) (8% Sl throughout), 4% Sl (Phased) (4% Sl from day 1-42 then 0%), and 8% Sl (Phased) (8% Sl meal from day 1-42 then 0%). The trial spanned three phases (1-21, 22-42, and 43-63 days), with slaughter sampling on day 63. During 1-42 days, the 4% Sl meal groups (4% Sl (Full), 4% Sl (Phased) groups) exhibited higher body weight and weight gain compared to controls (P < 0.05). From 43 to 63 days, 4% Sl (Phased) and 8% Sl (Phased) groups (supplemented with Sl in early-mid phases) achieved better growth performance, whereas continuous Sl supplementation (4% Sl (Full), 8% Sl (Full) groups) reduced growth rates (P < 0.05). 4% Sl (Phased) and 8% Sl (Phased) groups showed increased abdominal lipid deposition, elevated intramuscular fat (P < 0.05), and higher levels of multiple fatty acids. Immunologically, full-term Sl groups (4% Sl (Full), 8% Sl (Full) groups) had significantly higher pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (IFN-γ, IL-1β, TNF-α) than the control (P < 0.05), while 4% Sl (Phased) and 8% Sl (Phased) groups reduced this immune response (P < 0.05), and 4% Sl (Phased) group additionally increased serum IgA and IgG levels (P < 0.05). Significant differences in gut microbiota community structure were observed among groups (P < 0.05), with correlation analysis indicating that 4% Sl (Phased) group-enriched Faecalibacterium was associated with enhanced lipid deposition and regulation of antioxidant and inflammatory cytokine levels (P < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that phased 4% Sl supplementation (1-42 days) improves growth performance, intramuscular lipid deposition, and humoral immunity while mitigating excessive immune activation caused by prolonged Sl use. This strategy effectively replaces partial soybean meal in early-mid growth phases, providing a theoretical basis for the application of Sl meal in poultry feed.

Keywords: Protein feed, Yellow-feathered Broilers, Scarabaeiform larva, meat quality, Phased feeding

Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 CHEN, LIU, SHEN and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Hong SHEN, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China
Jungang Wang, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China

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