Researchers aim to turn bird feathers into food

Chicken and turkey are popular foods for carnivores - but might the birds' feathers find their way onto future menus? That's the aim of Lund University researchers who have isolated and refined a micro-organism on an Egyptian hen farm.

Feathers are melted into a protein hydrolysate liquid of small chain peptides and amino acids. The micro-organisms have a 90 percent conversion rate and could replace fishmeal and soy protein as animal feed.

Spin-off company Bioextrax hopes to perfect the technique next year. After that, researchers plan to adapt their protein for human consumption....no doubt ruffling some feathers on the way.