Effects of Dietary Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) Powder in Poultry Diets on Poultry Production and Ammonia Emissions in Poultry Litter
This study was conducted to examine the performance of poultry production and ammonia emissions from poultry litter when the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) powder was fed to broilers and ducks. In Experiment 1, a total of 180 1-day-old broilers (Arbor acres) were allocated to two treatments with three replicates in a completely randomized design. In Experiment 2, ducks were used in the same method as in Experiment 1. The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diets as control and basal diets with 1.5% Tenebrio molitor L. powder as T1. In Experiment 1, broiler production was not affected by the addition of mealworm powder (p>0.05). Ammonia from broiler litter was observed significantly different in the two treatments at 4 and 5 weeks (p<0.05); however, in other weeks ammonia measured did not show significance different (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, feeding of mealworm powder had no statistical significance on duck productivity (p>0.05). Ammonia emissions from duck litter were not statistically significant in the two treatments at 2 to 5 weeks (p>0.05); however, there was a difference at 6 weeks (p<0.05). Therefore, the addition of mealworm powder to broiler and duck diets did not only improved weight gain and feed efficiency, but also effectively reduced ammonia in poultry litter.