Increasing protein prices -feather meal is a solution

摘要

Conventional processing of poultry feathers involves the hydrolysation of the feather meal under conditions of high temperatures and pressure. This process improves the nutritional value of the feather meal compared to unprocessed feathers, but the nutritional value of the end product is still quite poor and so is only used, at least in monogastrics, at low levels (less than 10%). Poultry feathers are quite complex in structure. The outer layer is comprised of a hard, waxy outer cuticle that encasesthe keratin protein present in the shaft of the feather follicle. If the feathers are to be used as an animal feed ingredient, it is the keratin structure that must be hydrolysed into a form that is digestible and nutritionally beneficial. Fats and oilssecreted by the bird are also present on the surface of the feathers. Conventional hydrolysed feather meal is a poor source of digestible amino acids, although its crude protein content is one of the highest when compared to other available feed materials, as the results by Woodgate (2006) in Table 1 show.