Nutritive Value of House Fly Larvae and Pupae Fed on Chicken Feces as Food Source for Poultry.

Abstract

Nutritive value of the larvae and pupae of house fly, Musca domestica L. was estimated as a feed source for poultry. Chemical analysis showed that dried larvae and pupae contained about 60% crude protein (CP) and about 20% crude fat, their amino acid composition being similar to fish meal. Both larvae and pupae were considered to be comparable with fish meal but larvae seemed to be better than pupae with regard to their higher body weight. The metabolizable energy value (ME) of dried larvae was 3.79 kcal/g which was higher than fish meal. The experimental diet containing 7% dried ground larvae and the control diet with 7% fish meal were adjusted so both diets supplied almost identical contents of CP, ME and amino acid composition. The composition satisfied nutritional requirements of the starter feed for broiler chicks. A feeding trial to newly hatched broiler chicks was conducted until 24 days of age to evaluate house fly larvae as an alternative protein source to fish meal. No significant differences in body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were observed between the chicks fed on the experimental diet and those fed on the control diet. The dressing percentage of experimental chicks was significantly higher than that of the control chicks. As for the quality of meat, little or no differences in content of CP, crude fat and amino acid composition were found between experimental and control chicks. The results show that house fly larvae fed on chicken faeces can serve as a protein source without loss in quality compared with fish meal.