Handling of Broiler

Processing By-Products

Brian H. Kiepper, Ph.D.

Poultry Science
College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

Processing Yield
Products produced from the slaughter of poultry
fall into two basic categories: edible and
inedible
In the U.S., the maximum percent yield of edible
or dressed product from the various poultry
species ranges from a high of 77% for turkeys
to a low of 58% for ducks

Poultry Processing Offal

In the United States, poultry processing
plants produce offal in the form of blood,
feathers, heads and viscera
However,
this is not
true in all
parts of
the world

Chicken Feet or Paws

Chicken feet or paws are an example of how
global demand has changed handling of
traditional offal in the U.S.
1998

2008

Inedible by-products from processing are

generally referred to as offal

Broiler Processing Yield

Young chickens or broilers
processed in the U.S.
average a
72% edible yield
In 2010 poultry processors slaughtered 41.5 x
109 broilers with a total live weight of 103.3 x
106 metric tons (MT) of Ready-to-Cook (RTC)
product worldwide
Thus in 2010 along with generating 74.4 x 106
MT of RTC product, poultry processors also
generated 28.9 x 106 MT of poultry byproducts worldwide

Offal Isnt Offal Everywhere

Part
Good Liver + Heart
Pale Liver + Heart
Gizzard
Head
Good Feet
Trimmed Feet
Bumble Feet
Small Intestine
Cooked Intestine
Provent
Crops
Fats
Blood
Trachea
Good Trimmings
Spleen

P.Peso/Kg

$US / Lb

98
68
78
21
40
31
21
40
17
43
40
30
20
13
64
41

1.01
0.70
0.80
0.22
0.41
0.32
0.22
0.41
0.17
0.44
0.41
0.31
0.21
0.13
0.66
0.42

Wholesale
price sheet
from major
poultry
supplier in
the
Philippines

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Poultry Processing By-Products

Rendering
Rendering is the use of pressure and heat to
cook raw offal materials to remove moisture
and separate fat, protein and bone
These rendered products are then sold
domestically and exported for use in the
manufacturing of:

Blood
Following electrical stunning, U.S. broilers necks
are cut and blood is allowed to drain 1-2 minutes
Average U.S. broiler live wt 2010 = 2,5 kg (5,5 lb)
Blood represents ~8% of broiler live weight
~30 50% of total blood volume drains during
processing (~3% of live weight)
Typical U.S. plant processing 200 000 bpd will
collect 15 000 kg (33 000 lb) of blood daily

Pet food and livestock feed

Soaps
Pharmaceuticals
Lubricants
Plastics
Personal care products, and even crayons!

Rendering
Rendered products have a greater value than
raw offal material because cooking significantly
increases the stability or shelf life of the fat and
protein by reducing the moisture content and
killing the microbes present in the raw offal
In general, raw offal contains 50% moisture,
25% fat, and 25% protein and bone

Bleedout

2010 World Poultry Processing

(1 000 MT)

Total
Live Wt
23 001

Total
RTC
16 561

Total
Offal
6 440

920

1 610

3 910

China

16 521

11 895

4 626

661

1 156

2 809

Brazil

15 324

11 033

4 291

613

1 073

2 605

EU-27

11 889

8 560

3 329

476

832

2 021

Mexico

3 894

2 804

1 090

156

273

662

India

3 458

2 490

968

138

242

588

Russian Fed

2 222

1 600

622

89

156

378

Iran

1 979

1 425

554

79

139

336

Argentina

1 972

1 420

552

79

138

335

Japan

1 760

1 267

493

70

123

299

S. Africa

1 486

1 070

416

59

104

253

Others

15 450

11 124

4 326

618

1 082

2 627

Total

98 957

71 249

27 708

3 958

6 927

16 823

100%

15%

25%

60%

USA

Blood

Feathers

Viscera

Blood Tunnel

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Poultry Processing By-Products

Blood
Products = Blood meal, blood flour, fresh blood
U.S. plants typically render and use blood meal as a
supplemental protein source in animal feed
Typically heated to 100oC for ~15 minutes to destroy
pathogens
Excessive heating reduces digestibility of Crude Protein
(CP)
Blood meal is hydroscopic (water loving) and needs to be
dried to <10-12 % moisture to prevent rapid deterioration
Nutrient Characteristics: As % of dry matter (DM)
DM
CP CF Ash EE
Blood meal
89,5 88,5 0,4 6,0
1,2
Fresh cattle blood
20,2 95,7
4,1
0,2

NFE
3,9
-

Ca
P
0,28 0,28
0,89 0,25

Scalder Exit

Poultry Processing By-Products

Picker

Feathers
Following scalding, U.S. broilers are defeathered
in a series of feather pickers
Average U.S. broiler live wt 2010 = 2,5 kg (5,5 lb)
Blood represents ~4% of broiler live weight
Typical U.S. plant processing 200 000 bpd will
collect 20 000 kg (44 000 lb) of feathers daily
Feathers are typically water-flumed to offal
recovery areas

Scalder

Pickers in Series

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Picker Exit

Feather Truck

Poultry Processing By-Products

Feathers
Products = Feather meal, Hydrolyzed feather meal, Poultry
feather meal, Hydrolyzed poultry feather meal, Keratin meal
U.S. plants typically render and use feather meal as a
supplemental protein source in animal feed
Unprocessed feathers are high in CP, but are highly indigestible
so rendering is required
Moist heat is applied at elevated temperatures to cleave cystine
cross linkages in keratin CP becomes readily digestible
Feathers are cooked in a pressurized chamber at 30 to 45 psi for
30 to 60 minutes - resultant CP digestibility is >75%

Offal Recovery Area

Nutrient Characteristics: As % of dry matter (DM)

DM
CP CF Ash
Feather meal, hydrolyzed
90,5 86,1 0,3 2,5
Poultry feathers, hydrolyzed 93,0 91,4 0.4 3,8

EE
3,6
3,9

NFE
0,5

Ca
P
0,42 0,51

Poultry Processing By-Products

Viscera

Primary Screening of Feathers

Following defeathering, U.S. broilers are

eviscerated using a series of mechanical devices
Average U.S. broiler live wt 2010 = 2,5 kg (5,5 lb)
Viscera (with heads, inedible organs, etc)
represents ~10% of broiler live weight
Typical U.S. plant processing 200 000 bpd will
collect 50 000 kg (110 000 lb) of viscera daily
Viscera are typically water-flumed to offal
recovery areas

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USDA Inspector
Preen Gland Remover

Preparing viscera
for edible organ or
giblet recovery

Eviscerator

Presenter

Giblet Recovery

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Giblet Processing

Gizzard Peeling

Broiler Feet or Paws

Feet Peeling

Giblet Chiller
Peeled Feet

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Viscera
Truck

Renewed interest in foot-pad dermatitis

Vacuum Transportation Systems

Poultry Processing By-Products

Viscera
Products = Poultry by-product meal, Poultry offal meal,
Poultry meal
U.S. plants typically render and use viscera as a
supplemental protein and energy (fat) source in feed
Combination of all poultry by-products processed together in
the same proportions as they occur in the processing plant
Composition can be quite variable for plant to plant and
batch to batch, depending upon what is being included.

Deboned Frames

Nutrient Characteristics: As % of dry matter (DM)

DM
CP CF Ash
Poultry by-product meal
94,2 60,0 2,1 15,5
Poultry offal meal
92,4 68,5
7,8

EE NFE
17,1 5,4
23,1 -

Ca
P
3,75 1,80
-

Primary Screening of Viscera

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Questions?

Dr. Brian Kiepper bkiepper@uga.edu

www.poultry.uga.edu www.engr.uga.edu
bkiepper@engr.uga.edu
706-542-6776
706-542-6907

Biofuels from Poultry Fat

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