EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND pH ON BACTERIAL DEGRADATION OF CHICKEN FEATHER WASTE (CFW)

This study investigated the possibility of degrading chicken feathers discarded as environmental waste from poultry industry for the production of protein feedstuff for animal nutrition. Fourteen (14) bacterial isolates from chicken featherwaste were screened for feather degradation by growing them with feathers as their primary source of carbon, nitrogen and energy. One of the isolates designed as D4 was characterized and selected for further studies based on its superior keratinolytic activity. The time course of study on bacterial growth and feather hydrolysis in liquid culture medium having raw feather as sole source of carbon and nitrogen was followed by measuring the release of free amino nitrogen (FAN), total non-protein nitrogen (TNPN) and medium optical density. Optimum growth and feather hydrolysis as well as maximum amino acid yield was achieved at thermophilic temperature of 50 and 60 0 C. pH of 10.0 gave the optimum growth, yield of TNPN and FAN in the fermentation medium. These tests indicated that chicken feathers can be used in the local production of amino acid concentrate based on the isolate and also improve feather-based protein feeds for animal nutrition.