Nutritional and industrial applications of broiler chickens feather – a review

Abstract

Broiler chicken feather is one of the greatest protein-containing poultry by-products that has been
scantily reused. Nigeria is reported to have the largest population of chickens in Africa. Consequently,
enormous quantities of feathers are generated as by-products of the processing of these chickens.
These feathers are often dumped at dump sites where they constitute environmental nuisance and thus
pollute underground water. Broiler chickens feather has been reported to contain crude protein
content of between 82-87% that could be incorporated into diets of broiler chickens as feather meal
after subjecting them to appropriate processing procedures such as boiling at high temperature or
enzymatic treatment in order to denature its anti-nutrient called keratins. The use of broiler chickens
feather as organic fertilizer in crop production and as raw material in the textile industry has also
gained relevance, especially in the developed world. This paper, therefore, reviews the nutritional
potentials of broiler chickens feather in promoting better meat quality as well as other useful industrial
applications that could enhance effective recycling of this major by-product of the poultry industry
towards reducing or eliminating environmental pollution with the broiler chicken feathers.