Good Physical Quality Of Pellet Feed- The Important For Commercial Broiler

The performance of commercial broilers not only depends on a balanced nutritional diet, but also is greatly influenced by the form of feed. It is found that pellet feed significantly influences the performance of the flock.

Feed form comprises two distinct elements, first the microstructure, that describes the particle size and uniformity and, secondly the macrostructure that describes pellet size, hardness, and quality. These two factors are linked as all feeds are first reduced to particles (mash) before being pelleted. Feed is the link factor between formulator(nutritionist) and farm. So, not only nutritional value is important but also delivery of those nutrients through quality feed is equally important.

The good quality of pellet starts from good grinding
Grinding the feed ingredients into finer particles is a key factor to start quality pellet manufacturing. Particle size should be so fine that it may impact digestibility of feed. The geometric mean diameter (GMD) of the fine particles is always equal to or lower than that of mash feed, and these particles may cause a nutritional imbalance in feed chemical composition, which may negatively affect the bird performance(Muramatsu et al., 2015).Small particle size of feed causes gizzard atrophy and intestinal hypertrophy caused by bacterial fermentation

When particles are large, breakdown of feed particles at the proximal small intestine will be slower. Gizzard is the pacemaker of the GI tract. When finer feed is given, gizzard acts as a transit rather than a grinding organ. Less retention in gizzard leads to less exposures to proventriculus enzymes. It is found that a finely ground diet (560μm) compromised nutritional metabolism as particle size affects ME, nitrogen retention and DM retention. If the particle size is small ( 800 micron) feed intake is significantly reduced. On an average, a reduction of mean particle size of 100 micron will lead to a decreased feed intake of 4%

If the feed particles are too coarse, it makes it difficult to mix a homogenous diet and feed selection. The best performance is obtained with the medium size particles 1.13 mm to 1.23 mm. It is true that a more coarsely ground maize leads to improved nutrient utilization by the birds and this remains the case when after pelletting, although the pellet press will regrind many of the larger particles. Roller mill tends to produce particles evenly distributed across a weight range, whereas a hammer mill tends to produce a greater proportion of fines and coarse particles.

Diet particle size positively influences the performance and organ and tissue growth of 21-72-day old broilers. Feed wastage tends to be higher when mash feeds are fed. In addition, the bird covers each with mucin before swallowing, which needs both protein and energy.

Nowadays most of the broiler feeds are fed in pelleted form. Injecting steam into the feed during conditioning and subsequent pressing through pellet die improves pellet durability.Pelleting is defined as the agglomeration of smaller particles into larger particles through a mechanical process combining moisture (through steam), heat, and pressure.