Insect meal as a protein source has been considered a sustainable way to feed animals. H. illucens and T. molitor larvae meal are considered high-protein sources for poultry, also presenting considerable amounts of fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, other potential components in insect meal and insect oil have been more extensively studied in recent years. Chitin, lauric acid, and antimicrobial peptides can present antimicrobial and prebiotic functions, indicating that low levels of their inclusion in insect meal can beneficially affect broilers’ health and immune responses. This systematic review was developed to study the impact of insect products on the health parameters of broilers, and a metanalysis was conducted to evaluate the effects on performance. A database was obtained based on a selection of manuscripts from January 2016 to January 2023, following the mentioned parameters. Both H. illucens and T. molitor meal or oil products had positive effects on poultry health status, especially on the ileal and cecal microbiota population, immune responses, and antimicrobial properties. The average daily gain was greater in broilers fed T. molitor meal compared to H. illucens meal (p = 0.002). The results suggest that low levels of insect meal are suitable for broilers, without resulting in negative effects on body weight gain and the feed conversion ratio, while the insect oil can totally replace soybean oil without negative impacts.

The intensification of production systems has resulted in detrimental effects on sow welfare, which can have an adverse influence on their offspring. Considering the relevance of the microbiota–gut–brain axis, probiotics can mitigate such impacts. To investigate the effects of the dietary inclusion of probiotics on the welfare of sows and piglets, 147 multiparous sows were randomly assigned to two groups: a control group or a group supplemented with a multistrain probiotic from the beginning of pregnancy to the end of lactation. The human–animal relationship (HAR), stereotypic behavior, position changes, salivary cortisol, and plasma serotonin levels were assessed in the sows. The piglets’ back test behavior and organ weight were analyzed. The probiotic-supplemented sows exhibited a better HAR index (p = 0.017), which indicated reduced aversion towards humans. The frequency of stereotypies was not influenced by the treatments. However, the supplemented sows spent more time standing (p = 0.054) and less time lying down (p = 0.008). The cortisol level of the supplemented sows was 50% lower (p = 0.047) and the serotonin levels were 11% higher (p = 0.034) than control animals. The multistrain piglets were more passive and less resistant (p = 0.076) in the back test. The organ weights were not influenced by treatments. In conclusion, the sows supplemented with probiotics showed less fear and more motivation indicators, while their piglets showed less aggression behaviors.

Effects of plasticizer types and whey protein concentrate (WPC) as coatings were evaluated on internal quality and shelf life of eggs stored for 42 days. Eggs were coated with WPC at 8 % solution combined with the plasticizers glycerol (GLY), sorbitol (SOR), and propylene glycol (PRO). The eggs were stored at 20 °C. Weight loss, Haugh Unit (HU), albumen and yolk pH, and yolk index (YI) were evaluated weekly from day 0 to 42 days. After, electron microscopy of the eggshell structure was performed. The data was submitted to the analysis of variance and the effects of treatment, storage time, and the interaction between these factors were evaluated. There was significant interaction between factors (treatment and periods) for weight loss (p < 0.0001), HU (p < 0.0001), albumen (p < 0.0001), and yolk pH (p < 0.0001), and YI (p < 0.0001). After 42 days, uncoated eggs showed greater weight loss (5.4 %), compared to WPC+GLY, (3.8 %), WPC+SOR (3.3 %) and WPC+PRO (3.9 %). Similar results were verified for HU at 42 days of storage. Uncoated eggs showed HU of 58.46 (B), while coated eggs showed higher values: WPC+GLY – 66.58 (A), WPC+SOR – 68.79 (A), and WPC + PRO – 71.53 (A). The plasticizers GLY, SOR and PRO, associated with WPC, demonstrated effectiveness in maintaining the quality of eggs throughout the 42 days of storage. However, WPC+SOR showed superiority in preserving quality integrity of eggs. This result can be related to the chemical structure of SOR, making the combination more efficient for storage.

This study aimed to examine the nutritional diversity of distillers’ co-products in pigs. Two distinct databases were used in this study. The first was compiled through a systematic review of previous scientific publications that have evaluated the chemical composition and nutritional availability of these ingredients for pigs. The final database included information collected from 49 studies published between 2003 and 2022. Most of the studies focused on distillers’ co-products produced from corn (90%) and assessed dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS; 92%). A wide variety of nutritional compositions was observed in the selected studies, with coefficients of variation of 8% for gross energy and 13% for crude protein in dried distillers grains (DDGs). In the general database, half of the studies were published from 2003 to 2015 and the other half from 2015 to 2022. Greater variability in the net energy content and standardized ileal digestible lysine concentrations from 2015 to 2022 were the main concerns. The second database included information on high-protein dried distillers grains (HP-DDGs) collected directly from several feed mills and was built using the results of chemical analyses. These results suggest that the nutritional matrix of co-products should be assessed for each processing plant. Nevertheless, a coefficient of variation of up to 6% was found for crude protein and up to 20% for ether extract. Variability in nutritional composition is an important challenge of using distillers’ co-products in pig feed.

Insect meal as a protein source has been considered a sustainable way to feed animals. H. illucens and T. molitor larvae meal are considered high protein sources for poultry, also presenting considerable amounts of fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, other potential components in insect meal and insect oil have been more studied nowadays. Chitin, lauric acid, and antimicrobial peptides can present antimicrobial and prebiotic functions, indicating that low inclusions of insect meal can beneficially affect broilers` health and immune responses. This systematic review was developed to study the impact of insect products on health parameters of broilers, and a metanalysis was conducted to evaluate the effects on performance. A database was obtained based on a selection of manuscripts from 2016 to January 2023, following the mentioned parameters. There were positive effects of both H. illucens and T. molitor meal or oil products on poultry health status, especially in microbiota population, immune responses, and antimicrobial properties. The average daily gain was greater in broilers fed T. molitor meal compared to H. illucens meal (p = 0.002). The results suggest that low levels of insect meal were suitable for broilers, without result in negative effects on performance, while the insect oil can totally replace soybean oil without negative impacts.

Coccidiosis is a major enteric disease in poultry production, particularly under mixed infections involving multiple Eimeria species. This study evaluated the effects of a moderate mixed Eimeria spp. challenge on growth performance, hematological profile, and intestinal integrity in broiler chickens. A total of 288 broilers were allocated to challenged or unchallenged groups. At 14 days of age, challenged birds were orally inoculated with Eimeria tenella (3.5 × 103 oocysts/bird), Eimeria acervulina (7.0 × 104 oocysts/bird), and Eimeria maxima (1.0 × 105 oocysts/bird). Performance was evaluated until 42 days of age, and samples were collected at 7 and 14 days post-challenge. Challenged birds showed reduced body weight gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency during the first week post-infection, along with increased mortality, higher oocyst shedding, and more severe intestinal lesions. Although oocyst excretion and lesion severity decreased by 14 days post-challenge, total intestinal health index scores remained elevated. Hematocrit decreased at 7 days post-challenge, while leukocyte count and heterophil-tolymphocyte ratio increased at 14 days post-challenge. These results indicate that mixed Eimeria infection compromises both intestinal integrity and systemic physiological responses, and that intestinal morphological recovery does not necessarily reflect complete systemic restoration.