Identity and diversity of archaeal communities during anaerobic co-digestion of chicken feathers and other animal wastes

► We investigated feather digestion in digesters fed with different animal wastes. ► 40% to 74% of feathers added were converted to CH4 after 120 days digestion. ►Methanomicrobiales, Methanosarcinales and Methanobacteriales are the main Archaea. ► The distribution of archaeal groups highly correlated to the NH3-N levels. ► The archaeal communities fed different substrates are significantly different.