In fish nutrition, commonly used land-animal proteins are meat and bone meal (MBM), poultry by-product meal (PBM), feather meal, and blood meal. These ingredients are made through the rendering process, and therefore, can contain rumen, wool, or hair that can significantly influence the fiber content. MBM and PBM typically contain 50%–58% protein and 10%–11% fat, whereas feather meal and blood meal contain 80%–85% protein and 2%–5% fat (Masagounder et al., 2016). Special care should be given to the storage of MBM and PBM due to considerable amounts of fat present in these ingredients. Antioxidants should be added to MBM and PBM right after production to prevent lipid oxidation.

Despite their high nutritional value (protein and phosphorus content) and competitive prices, the nutritional profiles and quality of land animal protein ingredients can be variable depending on the source and the species from which they were obtained. This is a complication for feed formulators and makes it prudent to test each batch of ingredients upon arrival at the feed mill to ensure ingredient specifications are being met. The pepsin digestibility test is a common in vitro method used to estimate the digestibility (and therefore quality) of animal by-products. The National Renders Association has suggested a pepsin digestibility of more than 86% for MBM, 88% for PBM, and 75% for feather meal. in vitro, используемым для оценки усвояемости (и, следовательно, качества) побочных продуктов животного происхождения. Национальная пищевая ассоциация предположила, что усвояемость пепсина составляет более 86% для мясокостной муки, 88% для муки из птицы и 75% для перьевой муки.

MBM is sometimes adulterated with added limestone to increase the calcium content. A measurement of the calcium to phosphorus ratio can reveal the presence of limestone because limestone (calcium carbonate) does not contain phosphorus.