A food product ingredient formed from a keratinous protein-containing material, e.g, feathers, and methods of making the same. The methods include cleaning the keratinous protein-containing material, combining the keratinous protein-containing material with a cereal bran to form a mixture, and hydrolyzing the mixture to form the food product ingredient. Optionally, of the keratinous protein-containing material is cleaned and/or frozen within 5 hours of collection. The methods generate fewer unpleasant odors, and food product ingredients produced by the method can similarly benefit. The food product ingredient may be incorporated into a food product, such as a pet food product.

A method of regulating livestock excreta includes providing a feed composition to a livestock animal for consumption, where the feed composition comprises rapeseed meal, and the rapeseed meal comprises 42.5 to 55% by weight of the rapeseed meal of protein, and 6% or less by weight of the rapeseed meal of crude fiber.

A method of regulating livestock excreta includes providing a feed composition to a livestock animal for consumption, where the feed composition comprises rapeseed meal, and the rapeseed meal comprises 42.5 to 55% by weight of the rapeseed meal of protein, and 6% or less by weight of the rapeseed meal of crude fiber.

A probiotic composition is provided comprising Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain H57 bacteria that confers health and/or nutritional benefits, including methods of producing and using such a composition. Also provided is a method of treating a 5 probiotic-responsive disease, disorder and condition in an animal and a method of modulating the gastrointestinal flora of an animal, both including administering to said animal a probiotic composition comprising Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain H57 bacteria.

The present invention encompasses an effervescent Grape extract plus selenium composition which improves stress response. The invention also encompasses methods of improving stress response, such as stress response to vaccination or weaning, by administration of the composition. The invention also encompasses methods of producing meat with improved quality by raising an animal on a diet supplemented with an effervescent Grape extract plus selenium composition.

An emulsifier in powder form for animal feeds is described. A process for preparing the animal feed is also described.

A rumen-protected carotenoid animal feed product is described that is free-flowing, resistant to ruminal degradation and effective at raising the carotenoid level in milk produced by the animal.

A rumen-protected carotenoid animal feed product is described that is free-flowing, resistant to ruminal degradation and effective at raising the carotenoid level in milk produced by the animal.

Provided is a method of producing a stress reliever that reduces a decrease in productivity of livestock at the time of stress load by feeding the stress reliever to the livestock. The method of producing the stress reliever includes solid-culturing a substrate with the filamentous bacteria, in which the stress reliever reduces a decrease in productivity of livestock at the time of stress load.

This invention relates to a method for obtaining castor-oil plants deprived of the ricin/RCA protein, through the insertion of gene constructs into plant cells, particularly castor-oil plant ones, with the consequent production of ricin/RCA-free castor-oil plant seeds. An aspect of the invention consists in providing castor-oil plants and parts thereof containing said gene construct. The method disclosed herein appeared to be efficient to the generation of castor-oil plants deprived of ricin protein or showing low expression levels of this protein, thus allowing the use of the seed thereof to the production of detoxified cakes, both for animal nutrition and for fertilizers, not to mention its possible production in countries that set restrictions to this substance, due to ricin toxicity. Therefore, this invention also provides a method and a kit to the identification of transformed plants containing the gene constructs disclosed herein.