IntroductionThe increasing size of poultry units and decreased use of poultry manure as a fertilizer has stimulated interest in alternative methods of waste disposal. Biodegradation of manure or the use of some natural living organism to break down fowl excreta, such as house fly larvae, earthworms or by means of fermentation or upgrading by aerobic digestion and oxidation ditch or algae culture are all possibilities that might lead to the final product becoming a protein source in animal diets. In dried poultry manure about half of the total nitrogen is true protein. The rest is in a form of nonprotein nitrogen as uric acid with small quantities of ammonia, urea, creatine and creatinine (El Boushy and Vink, 1977). Although the available energy of poultry manure is the main difficulty for its use in poultry diets (Pryor and Connor, 1964), the uric acid is also a problem. Uric acid cannot be utilized by the fowl and may even be mildly toxic when the percentage exceeds 1.07% in a ration (El Boushy and Vink, 1977). In general dry poultry waste varies widely in composition. The nutritive value depends on the type of ration and age and type of the birds producing the droppings, the extent of feed spillage and the quantity of feathers present, the age of the droppings before drying, the drying temperature and the duration of storage.If research workers and the industry would take the initiative, a feedstuff might become available with a reasonable protein quality for animals and could be a key to increasing protein production in a protein deficient world.It is hoped that this study gathering up the available information concerning the conversion of poultry and animal waste to a satisfactory animal feedstuff, will focus the attention of research workers on the neglected possibilities in this field.

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