• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1203-1208
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• 2007

Feathers are produced in huge quantities as a waste product at commercial poultry processing plants. Since feathers are almost pure keratin protein, feather wastes represent an alternative to more expensive dietary ingredients for animal feedstuffs. Generally they become feather meal used as animal feed after undergoing physical and chemical treatments. These processes require significant energy and also cause environmental pollutions. Therefore, biodegradation of feather by microorganisms represents an alternative method to prevent environment contamination. The aim of this study was to investigate cultural conditions affecting keratinolytic protease production by Bacillus pumilus RS7. We also assessed the nutritive value of microbial and alkaline feather hydrolysates, The composition of optimal medium for the keratinolytic protease was fructose 0.05%, yeast extract 0.3%, NaCl 0.05%, K2HPO4 0.03%, KH2PO4 0.04% and MgCl2 6H2O 0.01%, respectively. The optimal temperature and initial pH was $30^{\circ}C$ and 9.0, respectively. The keratinolytic protease production under optimal condition reached a maximum after 18 h of cultivation. Total amino acid content of feather hydrolysates treated by NaOH and B. pumilius RS7 was $113.8\;{\mu}g/ml$ and $504.9\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Essential amino acid content of feather hydrolysates treated by NaOH and B. pumilius RS7 was $47.2\;{\mu}g/ml$ and $334.0\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Thus, feather hydrolysates have the potential for utilization as an ingredient in animal feed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2024

The feather-sexing method is widely used commercially for chick sex identification. However, for feather-sexing to be industrially practical, the early-feathering (EF) and late-feathering (LF) genes must existed within the foundation stock, a suitable feather-sexing lines must be established, and the accuracy of sex identification by feather-sexing must be ensured. Therefore, this study introduces the method of constructing the Korean native chickens (KNC) feather-sexing lines using EF and LF genes and evaluates the effectiveness of feather sex determination on commercial chicks produced from the constructed KNC lines. The results showed that both EF and LF chickens existed within the foundation stock, with the frequency of LF genes ranging from 0 to 0.205. In feather-sexing line establishment, the paternal strain of the grandparent stock (GPS) was fixed as EF (kk) for both sexes, while the maternal strain was composed of males with LF homozygotes (Z^KZ^K) and females with EF (Z^kW). Thus, in the parent stock (PS), male breeder had EF (Z^kZ^k) and female breeder had LF (Z^KW), resulting in chicks produced from their crosses having LF (Z^KZ^k) for males and EF (Z^kW) for females, allowing sex determination based on feather development. Additionally, to evaluate the effectiveness of feather-sexing for the produced commercial chicks, a study was conducted on 1,000 samples of the produced chicks to investigate the concordance between vent-sexing and feather-sexing, showing a matching rate of 93.1%.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2006

Feather, generated in large quantities as a byproduct of commercial poultry processing, is almost pure keratin, which is not easily degradable by common professes. Four strains, SMMJ-2, FL-3, NO-4 and RM-12 were isolated from soil for production of extracellular keratinolytic protease. They were identified as Bacillus sp. based on their morphological and physiological characteristics. They shown high protease activity on 5.0% skim milk agar medium and produced a substrate like mucoid on keratin agar medium. Bacillus sp. SMMJ-2 had a faster production time for producing keratinolytic protease than other strains. This strain did not completely degrade whole chicken feather for five days in basal medium but completely degraded whole chicken feather when supplied with nitrogen source for 40hours in keratinolytic producing medium ($0.7%\;K_{2}HPO_{4},\;0.2%\;KH_{2}PO_{4},\;0.1%$ fructose, 1.2% whole chicken feather, $0.01%\;Na_{2}CO_3$, pH 7.0). When supplied with chicken feather as nitrogen source, keratinolytic protease activity was 89 units/ml/min. When soybean meal was used as nitrogen source, the keratinolytic protease production reached a maximum of 106 units/ml/min after 48 hours under $30^{\circ}C$, 180 agitation. To isolate the keratinolytic protease, the culture filtrate was precipitated with $(NH_4)_{2}SO_4$ and acetone. The recovery rate of keratinolytic protease was about 96% after treatment with 50% acetone. The enzyme was stable in the range of $30{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ and pH $6.0{\sim}12.0$.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 1987

This study was conducted to bioassay of amino acid availability of feather meal processed by a different methods, commercial feather meal and raw feather meal, The feather meals were processed by labolatory pressure cooker(autoclave) at 2kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 30 minutes ; 3kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 90 minutes : 4kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 120 minutes. Chick employed in the present experiment were Abor Acre strain, male or meat type (body weight, 100-140g), fed with semipurified diet and protein free diet was given during the determination of the metabolic and endogeneous amino acid. The contents of amino acid of samples were investigated by ion-exchange chromatography. The results were as follows; 1. The amino acid availability of raw, 2kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 30 minutes, commercial, 4kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 120 minutes and 3kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 90 minutes of feather meal were -3.09, 63.28, 67.47, 71.22 and 73.75% respectively. 2. The essential amino acid availability of raw, 2kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 30 minutes, commercial, 4kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 120 minutes and 3kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 90 minutes of feather meal were 2.55, 66.78, 66.89, 72,56 and 73.62%, respectively. 3. In individual amino acid of the different processing loather meal and commercial feather meal, biovailabilities were increased methionine, phenylalanine, leucine, arginine, threonine, isoleucine, however, histidine, lysine and aspartic acid were remarkely decreased. In conclusion, the bioavailability or amino acid for the feather meal processed at 3kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for 90 minutes was superior to those of other treatment or raw feather meal.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate phenotypic characteristics, morphometric measurements, reproduction and production performances of Aseel chicken of Bangladesh. The dominant feather color of neck/hackles was red in both males (56.14%) and females (54.16%) while the sickle feather color was mostly black in both chickens (71.93% vs. 54.17%). The predominant saddle and breast feather colors were red (40.35%) and black (64.91%), respectively, in male whereas most frequent observed color was pale brown in female (58.33 and 50.0%, respectively). The predominant feather color of wing bow and wing bay was found black (68.42 and 80.70%, respectively) in male but only pale brown color was observed in females (62.5 and 54.17%, respectively) for these two characters. Different phenotypic measurements such as the average shank length and circumference were $12.79{\pm}0.13$ and $7.8{\pm}0.08$ cm, respectively, in male and $10.21{\pm}0.25$ and $5.81{\pm}0.21$ cm, respectively, in female. Keel length was $14.39{\pm}0.19$ cm in male and $10.79{\pm}0.23$ cm in female. The average adult live weight in male was measured $3749.12{\pm}83.44$ g while in female it was $2062.50{\pm}105.26$ g. The age of 1st lay was found to be 28.86 weeks. Total number of eggs laid per year ranged between 24~48, number of clutch/hen/year varied from 2 to 4 and number of eggs/clutch/hen was found to be 10~12. The average live weight of Aseel chicken at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 17 weeks of age were recorded as $31.14{\pm}0.55$, $48.63{\pm}3.99$, $116.57{\pm}5.72$, $138.40{\pm}5.91$, $212.88{\pm}4.82$, $361.00{\pm}9.72$, $577.50{\pm}42.86$, $743.75{\pm}24.65$, $1086.00{\pm}26.02$, $1402.00{\pm}24.54$ and $1432.00{\pm}27.00$ g respectively. Finally, this phenotypic characterization as well as productive and reproductive performances of Aseel chicken will give the baseline information to researcher for further study and for planning any on-ward conservation and implement strategy.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.93-94
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• 2004

The experiments was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of feather meal and pyridoxine on the taurine content of egg yolk and performance of laying hens. Feeding trial was conducted with 900 31-wk-old Hy-Line Brown layers for 4wks. The experiment consisted of six dietary treatments: control(basal diet), feather meal(FM) 3 % diet(FM 3 %), FM 3 % + pyridoxine supplemented diet(FM 3 % + Pyridox), FM 6 % diet, FM 6 % + pyridoxine supplemented diet(FM 6% + Pyridox), Synthetic taurine 0.25 % supplemented diet(Taurine). Egg production of birds fed FM 3% was highest and those of the FM diets were also higher than those of Taurine and the control. Egg weight of Taurine was significantly lower than those of FM 3 %, FM 6 % and the control but were not significantly different from those of FM 3 % + Pyridox or FM 6 % + Pyridox. Feed intake of the control was greater than those of FM 6 %, FM 6% + Pyridox or Taurine treatment but was not significantly different from those of FM 3 % and FM 3 % + Pyridox. Feed conversion of the control was significantly higher than other treatments in which that of FM 6 % was lowest. Broken and soft egg production of Taurine was highest while that of the control was lowest among treatments. Taurine content of egg yolk significantly increased by supplementation of taurine(64.7 %). FM 6 % + pyridoxine(57 %), FM 3% + pyridoxine (32.1%) and FM 6% (16.6 %). Sensory evaluation data of Taurine has shown the highest score in most of sensory attributes. It is concluded that taurine can be enriched in egg yolk by supplementation of 6 % FM diet and pyridoxine as well as 0.25 % synthetic taurine.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.95-96
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• 2004

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of feather meal (FM its) digests on the performance of broiler chicks and taurine content in broiler meat. A total of 1,000 broiler chickens were assigned to five dietary treatments : Control, FM diet(FM), FM+pyridoxine(FM+Pyridox), H$_2$O$_2$ treated FM diet(H$_2$O$_2$-FM) and enzyme treated FM diet (Enzyme-FM). Treated diets were supplemented with FM or FM digests at the level of 5 % to the control diet. During the stater period, weight gain of chicks fed FM+Pyridox was significantly higher(P<0.05) than those of the other FM or FM digest treatments but was not different from the control. Weight gam of overall period were not significantly different among treatments. Feed intake of the control was greater than that of FM or FM digest treatments. Feed conversion ratio(feed intake/gain) of chicks fed FM and H$_2$O$_2$-FM were significantly higher than those of Enzyme-FM and FM+Pyridox, but were not significantly different from the control. Taurine contents of leg and breast mucle were significantly (P<0.01) different among treatments but those of liver were not significantly different. Taurine content of FM+Pyridox was highest in both leg and breast muscle. It was 85 % higher in leg muscle and 15 % higher in breast muscle than that of the control. Sensory evaluation data showed significant but not consistant responses in various parameters. FM + Pyridox treatment showed highest score in aroma of raw leg muscle of male and in juiciness and tenderness of broiled breast muscle of male chickens. Control group showed highest color score in raw leg muscle of female and lowest overall acceptability score in broiled breast and leg muscle of male chicken. It is concluded that taurine can be enriched especially in broiler leg meat by 5 % FM diet supplemented with pyridoxine.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1000-1006
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• 2004

Selenium and vitamin E are micronutrients essential for normal health and maintenance in poultry. They are necessary in preventing free radical damage to phospholipid membranes, enzymes and other important molecules. Two experiments were conducted in a semi-commercial environment to examine the effect of Se source and vitamin E level in diet on broiler performance and meat quality. Increasing vitamin E from 50 IU to 100 IU did not affect growth performance of broilers although the 24 h drip-loss was tended to be reduced (p=0.06). There was an interaction between vitamin E and the source of Se in glutathione peroxidase activity (GSH-Px) and Se concentration in excreta. Increasing vitamin E from 50 IU to 100 IU elevated GSH-Px and Se concentration in excreta by 42 IU/g Hb and 0.9 ppm for the organic Se group, respectively, but reduced GSH-Px and Se concentration in excreta by 16 IU/g Hb and 1.3 ppm for inorganic group, respectively. Vitamin E played no role in the feather coverage of the birds when scored on day 37. Organic Se is more effective in improving feather score and 24 h drip-loss, with a markedly higher deposition rate in breast muscle and a lower excretion rate in the excreta (p<0.05) compared to the inorganic Se source. Both vitamin E and the source of Se did not affect (p>0.05) the energy utilisation by birds.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.119-120
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• 2003

The experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of supplementary feather meal(FM) and its digest on the taurine content and performance of laying hens. Feeding trial was conducted with 810 78-wk-old ISA-Brown layers for 5wk. The experiment consisted of nine dietary treatments ； T1 ; control(basal diet), T2；Tl + feather meal(FM) 6 ％ diet, T3；T2 + pyridoxin(21 mg/kg) supplemented diet, T4； T1 + H$_2$O$_2$treated FM 6%, T5； T4 + pyridoxin(21 mg/kg) supplemented diet, T6； T1 + cystine(0.25 ％) supplemented diet, T7； T6 + pyridoxin(21 mg/kg) supplemented diet, T8； T1 + synthetic taurine supplemented(0.25％) diet, T9； T1 + synthetic taurine supplemented(0.5 ％) diet. Diets were formulated to be iso-caloric and to meet NRC(1994) requirements of essential nutriente. Birds in treatments T3 showed significantly higher(P＜0.01) egg production, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, haugh unit and eggshell strength than those fed other treatments. Supplementation of FM. H$_2$O$_2$treated FM and cystine with or without pyridoxin did not significantly affected taurine content of egg yolk. Only synthetic taurine supplemented diets(T8 and T9) linearly increased(P＜0.01) taurine content of egg yolk.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2019

Currently, feather-sexing, which is based on differences in feather development at hatching, is a widely used chick sexing method in the poultry industry. For effective chicken feather-sexing, paternal early-feathering (EF) chickens and maternal late-feathering (LF) chickens must be bred. Therefore, it is critical to identify the effect of EF and LF patterns on production traits in chickens. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the production performances between 522 EF and 232 LF chickens in order to establish the Korean native chicken feather-sexing lines. The results showed that the survival rate of the LF group was significantly higher than that of the EF group from hatching to 52 weeks of age (P<0.05). Body weight, however, was not significantly different between the two groups at all ages. LF and EF groups did not significantly differ in age at first egg laying. However, the hen-day and hen-housed egg production of the LF group were significantly higher than those of EF group (P<0.01). No significant differences were found between the EF and LF groups in all egg quality indicators such as egg weight, eggshell color, albumin height and Haugh unit. Because the breeding target of Korean native commercial chicken is meat-type chicken, feather-sexing strains of Korean native chicken should be established using weighing-based paternal EF lines and laying-based maternal LF lines. Therefore, these results are critical for establishing desirable and effective feather-sexing strains.