Valorization of chicken feather into organic liquid fertilizer through two species of Bacillus bacteria fermentation

The valorization of industrial poultry waste by microbes into value-added products has received significant attention for reducing pollutants and producing a healthy environment. The current study aims to explore the use of liquid fertilizer from fermented chicken feathers by Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis . The study was carried out experimentally using a completely randomized trial design with 10 different treatments of liquid fertilizer, each of which was repeated 12 times. The current study showed that both bacteria can secrete keratinase enzymes, degrade chicken feathers, and increase the nitrogen content of liquid fertilizer. However, the keratinase activity, degradation, and nitrogen content of chicken feather liquid fertilizer produced by B. subtilis fermentation were significantly higher (P˂0.05) than those of B. cereus . Likewise, the growth, anthocyanin content in the leaves, and yield of red spinach plants nurtured with chicken feather liquid fertilizer from B. subtilis fermentation were significantly (P˂0.05) higher than those given liquid fertilizer from B. cereus . The current study concluded that chicken feathers could be valorized into liquid fertilizer for plants, especially red spinach, by both B. cereus and B. subtilis bacteria. The current study recommends liquid fertilizer from chicken feathers fermented by B. subtilis at 0.05 g/plant to replace chemical fertilizers in plants, especially red spinach.