Poultry Meal is one of the most important source of animal protein. It is made by combining the by-products coming from poultry slaughterhouses or poultry processing plants. Poultry Meal is manufactured from ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry such as necks, heads, feet, undeveloped eggs, gizzards and intestines (provided their content is removed), exclusive of feathers.

The nutrient content of poultry by-product meal can be quite variable and depends on the substrate that is being processed. It is generally a palatable and high-quality feed ingredient due to its content in essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. In addition to its use in livestock, it is in high demand from the pet food and aquaculture industries.

Poultry Meal is golden to medium brown in colour with a fresh poultry odour.

Worldwide, more than 55.5 billion broilers were slaughtered in 2009 and yielded about 16.5% offals. Assuming an average weight at slaughter of 1.8 kg, it may be inferred that each broiler gives 0.3 kg offal. The total production of broiler offal can then be estimated at about 17 million tons/year. This estimation does not take spent laying hens into account.

Processing poultry by-products into feed is a good way to mitigate the environmental problems caused by poultry processing. If not properly managed poultry offals released in the environment are vectors for insects, vermin, bacteria and viruses, which may result in water contamination (leaching of nutrients and pathogenic microorganisms) and air pollution (noxious gases and nuisance odorants)