Influence of Defatted Winged Termite Meal (Macrotermes natalensis) Inclusion Levels on Gut Morphology, Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality of Ross 308 Broiler Chickens

Winged termites (Macrotermes spp.) are highly nutritious edible insects containing 53,34% crude protein that could be economically beneficial when included in poultry diets. The present study aimed to evaluate the partial replacement of soyabean meal (SBM) with defatted winged termite meal (WTM) on viscera morphometry, intestinal morphology, carcass and meat quality traits of Ross 308 broilers reared for 42 days.

150 one-day-old, unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly allocated to 3 treatments × 5 replicates × 10 birds/ pen in a completely randomized design. Three isonitrogenous and iso-energetic diets were formulated to replace SBM with WTM as follows: WTM0 = basal control diet without WTM; WTM5 = WTM0 diet with 5% WTM; WTM10 = WTM0 diet with 10% WTM. At the end of starter (day 1-14), grower (day 15-28) and finisher (day 29-42) phases, 2 chickens/treatment were humanely slaughtered for visceral organ weights and gut morphology measurements. However, carcass and meat quality traits were only evaluated on day 42 after slaughter.

The findings showed WTM diets had no effect (p>0.05) on internal organ weights, gut morphological indices, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits of broilers fed incremental levels of WTM throughout the growth stages with exception of small intestines (SI), caeca (CW) and hot carcass (HCW) weights that varied significantly after 42 days. Broilers on WTM5 had heavier (p<0.05) SI than those on WTM0 and WTM10 diets. However, birds fed WTM10 had reduced (p<0.05) CW and HCW than other treatment groups. Thus, up to 10% WTM could be supplemented in diets as a partial replacement for SBM without adverse effects on visceral organ weights, gut morphological, carcass traits and meat quality of broiler chickens.