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This research examines how feeding broiler chickens insect meals affects their gut health and growth.

April 19, 2026Poultry Science0 citationsOpen Access

Gut health in broiler chickens fed a mixture of Hermetia illucens and Tenebrio molitor meals: does it have a key role in shaping bird performance?

IBIlaria BiasatoUniversity of Turin THTalal HassanDepartment of Medical Sciences DBDavide BuzzancaUniversity of Turin

Key Points

This research examines how feeding broiler chickens insect meals affects their gut health and growth.
Conducted a 37-day trial with 420 male Ross 308 chicks
Allocated into seven treatments with varying levels of Hermetia illucens and Tenebrio molitor meals
Performed intestinal histomorphometry and multi-omics cecal microbiome characterization
Identified biomarkers associated with gut health and performance variations
High-performing groups showed enriched microbiomes with beneficial bacteria positively correlated with growth metrics
Favorable metabolomic profiles and balanced mucin compositions were observed in high-performing groups
Low-performing groups had microbiomes associated with purine metabolism alterations and worsened gut morphology
Jejunal inflammation was present but not impacted by dietary treatments

Abstract

Insect meals are promising sustainable protein sources for poultry, but comprehensive insights into their effects on gut health and growth performance are lacking. This study is the first to elucidate relationships between gut health parameters and performance in broilers fed Hermetia illucens (HI) and Tenebrio molitor (TM) meals at 5% or 10% inclusion levels, singly or in a 1:1 combination. A 37-day trial used 420 male Ross 308 chicks randomly allocated to seven treatments: control (C), HI5 (5% HI), HI10 (10% HI), TM5 (5% TM), TM10 (10% TM), MIX5 (5% MIX), and MIX10 (10% MIX). By integrating intestinal histomorphometry, mucin histochemistry, multi-organ histopathology, and multi-omics cecal microbiome characterization, we identified key structural, microbial, and metabolic biomarkers associated with performance variations (false discovery rate FDR0.05). In conclusion, specific taxa ( Butyricicoccus, Veillonellaceae, Limosilactobacillus crispatus ), metabolites (dopamine, tyramine, malic and orotic acids), and mucosal features (villus height, mucin composition) were identified as biomarkers of optimal performance in insect-fed broilers.

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Biasato et al. (Wed,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69e4713b010ef96374d8dbc5 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.106966

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