The thermo-energetic cost of conventional feather processing has paved way for microbial enzyme technology, where bioconversion of poultry feathers into a nutritionally enhanced feather meal can be achieved. A beneficiary attempt has been made to isolate proteolytic bacteria from tannery lime effluent, as it is a keratin-rich man-made source. Isolates – T1, T2 and T3 that showed vibrant clear zone of hydrolysis on skim milk agar plates, were identified as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus flexus and Bacillus endophyticus respectively, through MALDI-TOF. Caseinolytic activity of the isolates on milk agar plates proved them as extracellular protease producers. Maximum solubilization of feathers was achieved with Bacillus flexus. Biodegradation of chicken feather was found to be 59%, 68% and 47% by Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus flexus and Bacillus endophyticus respectively. The proteolytic enzymes from the isolates were partially purified and preserved for further characterization.