Feather Meal

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15. FEATHER MEAL HYDROLYSED)

15.1 RationaleFeathers are the very complex derivatives o the integuments to be found in any vertebrate.They can be divided into three categories:

Contour feathers, inclusively the remiges o the wings and the rectrices o the tail;Down feathers;Filoplume.

They can be further subdivided into the barbules and barbicels(3l). Feathers consist oseveral morphological different parts, the horny central shaft (quill), partly hollow, fromwhich soft and narrow barbs extend. The composition depends on the type o feather(Figure 15-1). The remiges o the wings are composed o the 36):

Quill 55.0thereof: Rachis 19.0

Shaft 36.0Barb 32.0DownQuill marrow

Quill

Barb down

traces13.0

ShaftFigure 15 OJ. The parts o the poultry feather.

The chemical composition and the amino acid profile o the individual parts o thefeather are different (Table 15-01).

Feather meal is a by-product o poultry meat processing. Annually large quantitieso feathers are available. World-wide more than 25,000 million broilers are slaughteredper year. A 2.0 kg live chicken produces 180 g o feathers(26) which gives a potentialJ. W. Hertrampf et al.,Handbook on Ingredients for Aquaculture Feeds

Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000


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132 CHAPTER 15

of 4,500 million T of fresh feathers. In the USA only more than one million T offeather meal are produced a year


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FEATHER MEAL (HYDROLYSED) 133

the material is dried at 60C and ground. The physical appearance of feather meal variesaccording to the feathers used. Feathers of a light colour result in a light golden, brownmeal while feathers of dark colour give a dark brown-black meal 2l). Feather meal hasa fresh odour. t can be stored without fear of rotting(ll).

The quality of feather meal is affected by the degree of hydrolysation. Too high autoc1aving (pepsin digestibility = 90 ) will produce overcooked meal with a lower proteinquality. Also, undercooked meal (pepsin digestibility below 65 ) results in a lowerprotein quality(2l). Steaming for a long time decreases the true availability of manyamino acids 24).Other ProcessesFeathers could be denaturated also into a feedstuff by treatment with sodium hydroxide(0.25 NaOH) 30). The process significantly increases dry matter and protein digestibilityof feather meal n vitro However, the difficulty in handling, disposal or neutralisation ofNaOH may limit this type of treatment on a commercial scale.

Another technology for making feather meal is bacterial fermentation, whereby thefeathers are autoc1aved and inoculated with a bacterial culture of Bacillus licheniformisProcessing time is as much as five days and is uneconomical(35).

Dry extrusion technology has been tried for converting feather meal into a feedstuff.The product from this process has similar feeding value as feather meal from the hydrolysingprocess(9), but the process is uneconomical(26).

15.3 Chemical Physiological and other PropertiesChemical PropertiesThe crude protein content of feather meal in the dry matter averages 86.9 with a variationof more than 20 (Table 15-02).

Table 15-02: Chemical composition of feather meal(in dry matterF 3. II. 13. 14. 18.20.23.36)Mean Variation

Dry matter 93.3 90.0 - 92.5Crude protein 86.9 71.7 - 92.7Crude fat 3.6 1.8 5.0Ash 3.1 1.9 4.6Crude fibre 0.8 0.4 2.0N-free extract 0.6 0.5 0.9

The level of the essential amino acids histidine, lysine, methionine and tryptophanis deficient 36). In general, the amino acid content of feather meal is lower than ofuntreated feathers (Table 15-03). Pressure used in the processing may affect the aminoacid content to a certain extent l8). Cystine is particularly affected by pressure. t is partly


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134 CHAPTER 15

destroyed and converted into the amino acid lanthionine and loses half the sulphur inthe process(l8. 25. 36 .Table 15-03: Essential amino acid profile of hydrolysed feather meal and

untreated feathers (g/16 g N)f I 19. 23. 36

Hydrolysed feather meal Untreated feathersMean Variation

Arginine 6.11 4.99 7.58 5.61Histidine 0.80 0.99 1.06 0.42Isoleucine 4.29 3.92 4.63 4.28Leucine 6.96 6.37 - 7.73 8.65Lysine 2.28 1.72 - 2.98 1.03Methionine 0.65 0.59 0.72 0.30Phenylalanine 4.01 3.28 4.57 5.22Threonine 0.58 0.51 0.67 4.68Tryptophan 3.75 3.16 4.27 1.25Valine 5.73 4.27 7.62 8.37

The fat content varies significantly from 1.8 to 4.6 with a mean value of 3.6(Table 15-02). A high level of fat indicates feather contamination with skin tissue.High quality feather meal should have a fat content not exceeding 5.0 (2l).

The crude fibre content of feather meal is most probably an insoluble nitrogencontaining substance which is already included in the protein content(36).

The ash content depends on the cleanliness of the feathers. The mineral and vitamincontents of feather meal are compiled in Table 15-04.

Table 15-04: Mineral and vitamin contents of hydrolysed feather meal

Minerals(3. II 2IJ 22. 36 Vitamins (per 1,000 g)fll. 22.23. 36

Calcium 0.45 Vitamin BI mg 0.1Phosphorus 0.55 Vitamin B2 mg 2.2Sodium 0.54 Vitamin B6 mg 3.,2Potassium 0.25 Vitamin BI2 mcg 84.9Magnesium 0.15 Biotin mcg 80.0Chlorine 0.22 Folic acid mcg 170.0Sulphur 1.60 Nicotinic acid mg 21.4Manganese mg/kg 27.9 Pantothenic acid mg 9.3Iron mg/kg 116.0 Choline mg 493.0Zinc mg/kg 101.4Copper mg/kg 15.6Selenium mg/kg 0 9


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Physiological PropertiesFew data are available on the energy content of hydrolysed feather meal (Table 15-05).

Feather meal has a high crude protein content but its digestibility, ranging between52 and 74 , is unsatisfactory (Table 15-06). With increasing processing pressure,the pepsin digestibility increases (Figure 15-02). Recent studies have demonstrated thatwhen the concentration of pepsin is 0.002 rather than the normal 0.2 , the pepsindigestibility value is more closely related to in vivo performances(2}).

The amino acid digestibility of feather meal manufactured by using different processing pressures declines as the pressure increases(l8).

The lipid digestibility of feather meal is better than that of protein but this is of lessimportance because it has low fat content (Table 15-06).

Table 15-05: Energy values of hydrolysed feather meal (in dry matter)

Type of energy Species kcallkg

Digestible Rainbow trout 3,753Digestible Fish' 3,689Digestible Poultry 2,730

Metabolisable Carp 2,904Metabolisable Fish' 3,096Metabolisable Poultry 3,220Metabolisable Pigs 2,360

, species not specified

Table 15-06: Digestibility of hydrolysed feather meal ( Yo)

Species

SalmonidsRainbow troutChannel catfish

ther Properties

Dry matter

75.0

Digestibility

Crude protein Fat

62.3 68.055.2 68.065.8 83.0

MJlkg

15.715.511.412.213.013.59.9

Gross energy

73.770.066.6

Reference6)

ZO.Z3)II)

33)

21)II)36)

Reference

16)(5.6.29)10.16)

Feather meal most probably contains unidentified growth factors (UGF) as observed inbroilers and hatchability rate of chicks 36) (see chapter 44). Feather meal may be contaminated with salmonella, if improperly processed.


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136

,90

80

70

60

S

... 4..

320

10

-

-f-

CHAPTER IS

8 0 nI 6 n65.8\

16 0 \

207 310 414kPa kPa kPaContinous process ing ntreated

7 9 0 \

283kPaBatchtreatment

Figure /5-02. The effect of increasing processing pressure on the pepsin digestibility of continuously andbatch processed hydrolysed feather meal(dara/ , /8 .

15 4 Feeding ValueFeather meal is used to partly replace the costly fish meal in aquaculture diets_ However,only few trials have been carried out where the effect of feather meal on the animal'sperformances could be objectively determined_ n most feeding trials, mixtures of animalprotein, containing feather meal, blood meal, meat and bone meal and poultry by-productmeal, replaced fish meal in the diets for aquatic animals. These mixtures of variousanimal proteins are also called fish meal analog . Hence the effectiveness of purefeather meal could not be established_FishesA combination of feather meal and poultry by-product meal (low and high fat content)replaced partially herring meal in the diet for coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch).Replacing 35 % to 75% of herring meal protein by protein from a mixture of feather meal


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and poultry by-product meal did not show any substantial difference in the performanceto the herring meal control group. Supplemental methionine may be required at highlevel replacement o herring meal protein J7).In diets for the rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri) combinations o feather meal andpoultry by-product meal (Table 15-07 115 or feather meal and blood meal 1:1) 27) orfeather meal, poultry by-product meal and blood meal (113: 113: 113) 28) could fully meetthe protein requirement o the fish provided the substitutes only may replace half othe available protein in the diet. In addition the diet has to be supplemented with aminoacids l5. 27. 28. 32 .Table 15-07: Replacement o fish meal by feather meal and pOUltry by-product meal in diets for rainbow trout

Sa/rno gairtineri) (trial period: 88 days) 1jJ

Fish mealFeather mealPoultry mealAmino acid supplementCrude proteinFat

Weight gainFeed conversion

%%%

%%

g1:

70.0

46.112.2

331.33

1 1.7% lysine, 0.48% methionine, 0.144% tryptophan

52.57.5

10.0

47.213.3

1421.24

35.015.020.0

50.211.5

1271.41

30.040.0

48.112.3

1171.52

30.040.0+148.912.8

1261.37

A fish meal analog made from equal parts o feather meal, poultry by-productmeal, blood meal and meat and bone meal has been used to replace 25%, 50%, 75% or100% o the fish meal in the diet for rainbow trout fingerlings. Up to 75% o the fishmeal could be replaced by fish meal analog without any negative effect on performances.However, full replacement o fish meal resulted in a significant decrease in weight gaino the fish 7).

Total replacement o fish meal by feather meal in diets for tilapia Tilapia mossambicus)resulted in a reduction in performance (Table 15-08). In this trial with juvenile tilapia,feather meal proved unfeasible, alone or in combination with blood meal (50:50), and aseither a partial or total substitute for fish meal 8).

Channel catfish Ictalarus punctatus) fingerlings were fed isonitrogenous dietscontaining either maize gluten meal (60% crude protein) alone or in combination withfeather meal. While weight gain was not significantly reduced in fish fed feather meal,feed conversion was higher for the feather meal diet. Total sulphur amino acid (TSAA)content was the same for both diets but the TSAA availability tended to be lower forfeather meal compared to maize gluten meal (Table 15-09) 1).


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138 CHAPTER IS

Table 15-08: Feather meal and feather meallblood meal as a substitute for fish meal indiets for tilapia Tilapia mossambicus) (trial period: 49 days (8)

Fish meal (Chile) 47.2 10.8Feather meal 8.8 20.6 8.3Blood meal 8.3Meat and bone meal 10.0 10.0 10.0Crude protein 38.8 37.3 39.2 37.1Fat 13.5 13.0 13.0 13 1

Initial weight g 0.80 0.80 0.82Specific growth rate 3.71 3.46 2.83Daily weight gain mg 84.0 72.4 50.1Feed conversion 1: 2.16 2.32 2.93PER 1.20 1.16 0.87

Table 15-09: Feather meal replaces maize gluten meal in diets forcatfish Ictalurus punctatus) (trial period: 42 days)(/)

Maize gluten (60 )Feather mealTSAAI

Weight gainFeed conversionTS Nlweight gain

1 Total sulphur amino acids

g 16g N

gI:

20.0

1.02

42.62.090.021

10.010.0

1.02

40.72.260.023

0.812.90

52.02.910.93

CrustaceansIn a semi-purified diet for juvenile Penaeus vannamei (white shrimp) 2.5 , 5.0 and10.0 of the diet's protein were replaced by feather meal. There was no difference in thesurvival rate between the control group and the protein replacement by feather meal.Shrimp growth for the fish meal control diet was better than for the partial fish mealreplacement by feather meal. Feather meal at levels of 5.0 to 10.0 of the protein aresuitable for shrimp diets as long as the shrimps' requirement for essential amino acidsand minerals are met 19).


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MolluscsFeather meal may be an alternative protein source for abalone of the genus Haiiotis l2).However, it does not contain phagostimulatory components such as free glutamic acidand aspartic acidW Feather meal as a protein source may also negatively affect waterquality and may cause bloat in the abalone 12).

15 5 Recommended Inclusion RatesFeather meal has a high crude protein content but the digestibility of the nutrients israther low (Table 15-06). t can partly replace fish meal in aquaculture diets but may notperform as well as diets with fish meal as the only protein source. The use of feather mealmay require an extra fortification of the diet with amino acids. In commercial aquaculturediets, feather meal may be used at levels of 5.0 to 10.0%.

15 6 Legal AspectsFeather meal is defined by the American Feed Control Officials (AFCO) as:The product resulting from treatment under pressure of clean, undecomposed feathers

from slaughtered poultry, free of additives and/or accelerators. Not less than 75% ofthe crude protein must be digestible as determined by the Association of OfficialAnalytical Chemists' pepsin digestibility method 7.048 (26).

ED-Directive 92/87 EEC of 26 October, 1992, has listed feather meal as No. 9.06and is described as a Product produced from hydrolysed, dried and ground poultryfeathers . The same definition is given by the German feedstuff law (Table 15_10)134).

Table 15-10: Nutritional standards of feather meal required by German feedstuff law 34) and NRA 21)

German feed stuff law NRA-Standard

Moisture max. 11.0 max. 10.0Crude protein min. 80.0 min. 80.0Pepsin digestibility min. 70.0 min. 75.0Fat max 6.0Crude fibre max 4.0Ash max. 3.4 max. 4.0Phosphorus min. 75.0


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14 CHAPTER IS

15 7 References

I. Andrews. J. W. (1991): A comparison of several by-products and plant proteins as sources of essentialamino acids for catfish. Director s Digest. No. 12 (Fats and Proteins Res. Found. Bloomington. IlI.IUSA.2. Anonymous (1987): Byproduct meals may have place in turkey diets. Feedstuffs. 59 (51). 13-14.3. Bath, D Dunbar J King. J Berry. S Leonhard. R.O Olbrich. S (w/o year): Composition of by-products

and unusual feedstuffs (Mimeograph).4. Care/oot. T.H. (1982): Gastropod nutrition. Proc. 2nd Conf. on Aquaculture Nutrition: Biochem. and

Physiol. Approaches to Shellfish Nutrition. Rohoboth Beach. DelawarelU.S.A October. 321-337.S Cho. e.Y.; Slinger, S.J. (1979): Apparent digestibility measurement in feedstuffs for rainbow trout. Proc.

World Symp. on Finfish Nutr. and Fishfeed Techn Hamburg/Germany. Vol II. 20-23 June. 1978.6 Cho. e.Y.. Cowey. e.B.. Watanabe. T (1985): Finfish nutrition in Asia: Methodological approaches to

research and development. IFRC. No. 233e. Ottawa/Canada.7 Dabrowski. K. et af. (1995): Quoted from: Rowland. R.D. 1995).8 Davies. S.J.; Williamson. J.; Robinson. M.; Bateson. R.I. (1989): Practical inclusion levels of common

animal by-products in complete diets for tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus. Peters). Proc. 3n Int. Symp.on Feeding and Nutrition in Fish. Toba/Japan. 28.8-1.9. 325-332.

9 Davis. J. (1989): Feed from poultry waste - a new process. Poultry International. 28 (3). 40-44.10 Dupree. H.K.; Huner J. V (1984): Third report to the fish farmers. Publ. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Washington, D.C.II. Evans. M. (1985): Nutrient composition of feedstuffs for pigs and poultry. Queensland Dept. Primary

Ind Brisbane/Australia (Series Q 185001).12 Fallu. R. (1991): Abalone Farming. Fishing News Books, OxfordlEngland.13 Feltwell. R.; Fox. S (1978): Practical pOUltry feeding. Faber and Faber, London and Boston.14 Friesecke. H. (1984): Handbuch der praktischen Ftitterung von Rind. Schaf, Pferd, Schwein, Gefltigel

und StiBwasserfischen. BLV Veriagsges., MtinchenlGermany.15 Gropp. J.; Koops. H.; TIews. K ; Beck. H. (1976): Ersatz von Fischmehl irn Forellenfutter. Arb. Deutscher

Fischerei-Verb., No. 19, 85-102.16 Hepher, B. (1988): Nutrition of pond fishes. Cambridge University Press, CambridgelU.K.17 Higgs. D.A.; Markert. J.R.; Macquarrie. D.w ; McBride. J.R.; Dojanjh. e.; Hoskins. G (1979):

Development of practical diets for coho salmon. Oncorhynchus kisutch. using pOUltry by-product meal.feather meal. soybean meal and rape seed meal as major protein sources. Proc. World Symp. on FinfishNutr. and Fishfeed Techn Hamburg/Germany. Vol II. 20-23 June. 1978. 191-216.

18 Latchaw et al. (1994): Quoted from: Rowland. R.D. 1995).19 Lawrence. A.K; Castille. F. (1991): Nutritive response of a western hemisphere shrimp Penaeus van-

namei. to meat and bone. feather and pOUltry by-product meal. Director s Digest. No. 215 (Fats andProtein Res. Found. Bloomington. IllIUSA.

20. New M.B. (1987): Feed and feeding of fish and shrimps - A manual on the preparation and presentationof compound feeds for shrimps and fish in aquaculture. UNDPIFAO/ADCPIREP/87126. Rome/Italy.

21. NRA (1993): Pocket information manual a buyers guide to rendered products. National Renderers Ass Inc Alexandria. Vir.IUSA.

22. NRC (1981); Nutrient requirements of coldwater fishes. National Academy Press. Washington. D.C.23. NRC (1983): Nutrient requirements of warmwater fishes and shellfishes. National Academy Press.

Washington. D.C.24. Papadopoulos. M.e. et al. (1985): Quoted from: Rowland. R.D. 1995).


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