Table 4.
The effect of choice feeding with black soldier fly (BSF) dry larvae (Hermetia illucens) for the duration of 6 weeks on the flock performances of 160 ISA Brown free range laying hens.
| Item | Treatment | Time1 |
P-value |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Week 6 | Treatment | Time | Treatment × Time | ||
| Egg production, % | Control group | 95.2 ± 0.62 | 82.8 ± 4.24 | 0.482 | 0.165 | 0.681 |
| BSF group | 91.7 ± 2.47 | 91.6 ± 2.11 | ||||
| Egg weight, g | Control group | 67.9 ± 0.62 | 66.9 ± 0.75 | 0.548 | 0.219 | 0.637 |
| BSF group | 68.1 ± 0.65 | 67.5 ± 0.34 | ||||
| Egg mass, g | Control group | 64.7 ± 2.07 | 55.5 ± 3.47 | 0.415 | 0.063 | 0.093 |
| BSF group | 62.4 ± 2.19 | 61.9 ± 1.36 | ||||
| Feed intake, g/day per hen | Control group | 108.6 ± 4.01 | 94.6 ± 6.98 | 0.674 | 0.074 | 0.958 |
| BSF group | 107.7 ± 4.06 | 94.3 ± 9.59 | ||||
| Feed conversion ratio, kg egg/kg feed | Control group | 1.68 ± 0.03 | 1.71 ± 0.07 | 0.916 | 0.834 | 0.190 |
| BSF group | 1.73 ± 0.04 | 1.73 ± 0.08 | ||||
| Body weight, kg/hen | Control group | 2.03 ± 0.03 | 2.00 ± 0.03 | 0.412 | 0.558 | 0.650 |
| BSF group | 2.04 ± 0.02 | 2.04 ± 0.02 | ||||
1
Mean values ± standard error of the mean of 80 hens, 4 replicates per treatment.