Bacteriological and chemical properties of soil amended with fermented poultry bird feather

Abstract

Huge amount of poultry wastes are generated annually in developing nations, of which end up in our environment. Feather as a poultry waste have caused environmental concerns in many of these countries. In this research work, poultry feather was used to study its effects on bacteriological and chemical properties in agricultural soil. The feathers collected were grinded, sterilized and fermented before mixing it with soil. Total heterotrophic counts of colonies were enumerated from the soil samples. Isolates were characterized based on morphological and series of biochemical tests. Soil chemical analysis for pH, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium was also carried out. The heterotrophic bacteria count of the treated soil had the highest count in the range of 1.54 x10 6 to 2.02 x10 6 (CFU/g) as against the control soil with 1.24 x10 6 (CFU/g). The bacteria identified from these samples were Bacillus sp., Proteus sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Actinomyces sp. Actinomyces sp. was isolated only after three weeks of treatment with the feather while all other bacteria were also present in the control soil but at elevated levels based on heterotrophic bacteria count in the treated soil. The soil chemical analysis of the treated soil had high amount of mineral (Organic carbon 1.10 %, nitrogen 0.09%, phosphorus 0.53+0.02 mg/kg, magnesium 0.45+0.01 mg/kg as against the control (Organic carbon 0.26%, nitrogen 0.05%, phosphorus 0.30+0.10 mg/kg, magnesium 0.45+0.01 mg/kg) and their pH is almost near neutrality, 7.12 and 7.08 respectively. The result suggested that soil treated with poultry feather increased the plate count of Bacillus sp, Proteus sp, Staphylococcus sp and Actinomyces sp. Poultry feather which is a waste by-product can provide essential nutrients for the survival of soil microorganisms, plant growth and therefore can be exploited as biofertilizer.

Chicken feather waste degradation by Alternaria tenuissima and its application on plant growth

“…Recycled keratin wastes and other organic wastes can be used as soil alterations and nourish-ments to provide organic matter for biologically vital and productive soils (Zheljazkov 2005). Soil samples treated with feather found variation in physiochemical composition to control (Ibrahim et al, 2014). The protein-rich concentrates feather meal formed for poultry feed can also use as a semi-slow release of nitrogen fertilizer (Kumar et al, 2017).…”