Feather powder processing

Equipment Introduction:

Feather powder is a high protein feed material made by scientifically processing feathers produced during the slaughter or breeding process of livestock and poultry. Its core value lies in converting feathers that are difficult to directly utilize into resources rich in keratin, achieving the dual goals of "waste resource utilization" and "feed protein supplementation". The processing of feather powder needs to address the pain points of "tough structure and difficult digestion" of feathers, by destroying the dense structure of keratin through physical, chemical or biological means, and enhancing its nutritional value and digestion and absorption rate.

Process flow:

The processing technology of feather powder revolves around four core steps: "removing impurities → destroying keratin structure → drying and sterilization → crushing and shaping". The key difference between different processes lies in the "way of destroying keratin structure", which directly affects the digestibility and nutritional value of feather powder. At present, the mainstream processes are divided into two categories: physical and chemical methods and biological methods.

Physical and chemical method: high temperature and high pressure hydrolysis method

The high-temperature and high-pressure hydrolysis method is currently a good process for large-scale feather powder processing plants in China. By using "high temperature+high pressure+moisture" to break down the disulfide and peptide bonds of keratin, large molecule keratin is decomposed into small molecule peptides and amino acids, while achieving sterilization and impurity removal. The product degradation rate can reach 70% -85%.

Biological method: enzymatic hydrolysis/microbial fermentation method

The biological method utilizes the biological activity of enzymes or microorganisms to decompose keratin, which has the advantages of "mild reaction conditions, good nutrient retention, and no chemical residues". It is the future development direction of feather powder processing, but currently, due to high costs, it is mainly used in the field of feed.

Application Scenario:

Feather powder is mainly added as a protein raw material to livestock, poultry, and aquatic feed. The addition ratio should be controlled according to the animal species and growth stage to avoid excessive use