The consumption of poultry meat and eggs is expected to increase considerably in the nearest future, which creates the demand for new poultry feed ingredients in order to support sustainable intensive production. Moreover, the constant improvement of the genetic potential of poultry has resulted in an increased nutrient density in poultry feeds, which limits the possibility to include low quality feed ingredients. Therefore, the feed industry needs new sources of highly digestible protein with a desirable amino acid composition to substitute other valuable but limited protein sources of animal origin, such as fishmeal. With estimated 1.5 to 3 million species, the class of insects harbours the largest species variety in the world including species providing a high protein and sulphur amino acids content, which can be successfully exploited as feed for poultry. The aim of this paper is to review the present state of knowledge concerning the use of insect protein in poultry nutrition and the possibilities of mass production of insects for the feed industry. There is no doubt that insects have an enormous potential as a source of nutrients (protein) and active substances (polyunsaturated fatty acids, antimicrobial peptides) for poultry. It can be concluded, based on many experimental results, that meals from insects being members of the orders Diptera (black soldier fly, housefly), Coleoptera (mealworms) and Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locust, crickets and katylids), may be successfully used as feed material in poultry diets. However, legislation barriers in the European Union, as well as relatively high costs and limited quantity of produced insects are restrictions in the large-scale use of insect meals in poultry nutrition.

A probiotic is a culture of live microorganisms that can manipulate and maintain a beneficial microflora in the gut. Prebiotics are nondigestible feed ingredients that can positively affect the animal organism by stimulating the activity and growth of beneficial native bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and eliminate the pathogenic ones. Some studies have shown their beneficial effects when they have been used separately or simultaneously in the form of synbiotics, to obtain enhanced mutual effect. These supplements were proposed with success as alternatives to antibiotic growth-promoting feed additives but further studies are needed to better understand their mode of action and effects. This review article presents growing interest in using these antibiotic alternatives, the potential mechanism of their action in the live organism, and discusses some recent data on the effects of these supplements in poultry nutrition.

The aim of this review paper is to update, present and discuss the current research findings from recent studies regarding the efficacy of organic sources of microelements in poultry nutrition. Most intensively evaluated in poultry feeding studies have been organic forms, i.e., proteinates and amino acids complexes and chelates, of such microelements as Zn, Mn and Cu. The results of these studies are not always consistent, particularly in regard to performance indices; however, the majority of the findings from recent experiments indicate that organic minerals are an effective source of microelements, and can replace, with some advantages, inorganic forms of minerals in poultry diets. One of the main benefits is the option to use lower inclusion levels of minerals added in organic forms, which may reduce the mineral content in the resulting poultry excreta.

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