Poultry meal consists of the milled, rendered, and cleaned parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry. Inedible tissues comprising the raw materials include the heads, necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, and skeletal frames from which muscles have been removed. The completeness of muscle removal for boneless chicken meat varies somewhat. Similarly, several of the tissues listed above also have edible markets. Poultry meal is to be exclusive of feathers, with the exception of such amounts as might occur unavoidably with the use of good processing practices. A considerably higher quantity of inedible tissue from poultry processing is acquired from each carcass as trends advance for further processing and more table-ready foods. Poultry meal is an excellent source of protein. It is a product used extensively in companion animal diets. Processing improvements have resulted in better poultry meal, as with most by-product ingredients. Improvements in digestibility have enhanced its usage in other animal species, such as in aquaculture and starting pig diets. Specifications vary slightly depending on source. Broiler chickens, laying hens, and turkeys comprise the major sources of poultry raw materials. However, they all yield similar final rendered products. Ducks and other less dominant avian species may show some variations.
