In poultry nutrition, most attention is given to protein products, due to the importance of protein as a major constituent of the biologically active compounds in the body.

It also assists in the synthesis of body tissue, for that renovation and growth of the body. Furthermore, protein exists in form of enzymes and hormones which play important roles in the physiology of any living organism.

Broilers have high dietary protein requirements, so identification of the optimum protein concentration in broiler diets, for either maximizing broiler performance or profit, requires more knowledge about birds’ requirements for protein and amino acids and their effects on the birds’ growth performance and development. It also requires knowledge about the protein sources available that can be used in poultry diets.

Sources of protein for poultry

In poultry feed formulation, after the energy-yielding raw materials, protein supplements constitute the biggest component, and attention has been focused on the protein and energy levels of the feed.

Vegetable (plant) and animal products are the two most important protein sources in poultry diets.

The usefulness of a protein feedstuff for poultry depends upon its ability to supply a sufficient amount of the essential amino acids (EAA) that the bird requires, as well as the protein digestibility and the level of toxic substances associated with it.

The majority of an animal’s dietary protein requirement is supplied by plant protein sources. Worldwide, traditionally, the most used energy and protein sources are respectively, maize and soybean.

Cereals, like wheat and sorghum, and some plant protein meals are used all over the world as well. Soybean meal (SBM) is the preferred protein source used in poultry feed manufacturing. Its CP content is about 40–48%, and this depends on the quantity of hulls removed and the oil extraction process. Compared to the protein meal of other oilseed grains, soybean protein is favoured due to its well-balanced amino acid profile, especially the essential ones, enabling it to balance most cereal-based diets. 

Plant proteins are usually cheaper than animal proteins; however, there is a limitation to their use because of their content of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs). Most of these ANFs can be destroyed by thermal processing that causes an increase in the nutritional value sometimes and protein level of plant proteins due to the elimination of ANFs and freeing the protein in the plant protein products.

In general, vegetable (plant) protein sources are nutritionally unbalanced and poor in certain EAA and this decreases their biological value as they may not furnish the required limiting amino acids needed by birds for egg and meat production. Poultry nutritionists have paid more attention to the use of animal protein sources to create a balanced diets.

Animal proteins are well balanced in terms of EAA that are necessary for body growth and development, but they are expensive for commercial broiler production. Therefore, they are usually used to complement the amino acid balance in the diets rather than as the main protein source.

Also the concern associated with disease transmission from products of animal origin is also taken into consideration. In general, the quality of animal protein sources is dependent on the composition of the raw material used. Animal protein supplements are derived from poultry and poultry processing; meat packing and rendering operations; fish and fish processing, and milk and dairy processing.

Bone meal, meat meal, poultry meal, hydrolyzed feather meal and to a lesser extent blood meal have all been used as important feedstuffs for poultry feeding. Animal proteins are a beneficial component of poultry diets because they offer a high level of protein/amino acids, a high level of available phosphorus, reasonable amounts of other minerals, and moderate levels of energy.