Research has concentrated primarily on the benefits of feeding pellets versus mash. Pellet quality has become more important in the swine and poultry industries as integrators continue to expand and recognise the value of feeding quality pellets. It is one of the important methods for modern feed companies to improve product quality by upgrading their process technology. Let us go through the whole production process and emphasise step by step where improvements can be made.
1. feed particle size
Generally, feed particle size should take consideration of many factors like feeding method, process costs, capacity and growing characteristics of the animals. Particle size should be no more than 1/3 of the diameter of the pellet. Appropriate feed particle size can improve digestion rate of the nutritious elements. Research has shown that when the average particle size of corn in sow feeds is reduced from 1,200 to 400, its digestion rate could be raised by 14%, dry matter in manure could be reduced by 21% and nitrogen output would be lowered by 31%. The key point of particle size control technology is to grind each raw material to the best size suitable for digestion to ensure each batch of feed can acquire best growth efficiency and economic profit. It is necessary to study the best digestion size of each raw material for different animals.