Feed manufacturing and the associated quality control program are essential components of successful animal husbandry. A farmer’s understanding and specification of the activities within a feed mill are major keys to sustainable and profitable animal rearing.
There are different types of feed milling machines (grinding), namely: Hammer, Attrition, Roller, Cutters, and Screening mills. Grinding or particle-size reduction is a major function in feed manufacturing.
Many feed mills pass all incoming ingredients through a grinder for several reasons:
i. clumps and large fragments are reduced in size
ii. some moisture is removed due to aeration
iii. additives such as antioxidants may be blended. Dry feeds may be ground, sifted, screened, mixed, compressed, expanded, texturized, colored, and flavored. By one or more of these processes, a wide variety of ingredients can be prepared into a standardized product.
Mixing can be done using horizontal mixers or vertical mixers. Feed mixing may include all possible combinations of solids and liquids. Within each ingredient are differences in physical properties.
For solids, these include differences in particle size, shape, density, electrostatic charge, coefficient of friction (as represented by the angle of repose), elasticity, resilience, and, of course, color, odor, and taste. For liquids, there are differences in viscosity and density.
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Machinery Used in Feed Milling
The feed mill involves considerable investment, and new buyers may be overwhelmed by the various machinery and equipment required. Below are the key machines involved in the processes of pelleting, mixing, grinding, and extrusion:
1. Pelleting: This is the process of compressing feed into pellet form through a die using rollers.
2. Mixing: Feed ingredients are uniformly combined using mixers, which can be horizontal or vertical.
3. Grinding: Grinding machines reduce particle size to improve feed utilization.
4. Extrusion: This machine helps process feeds by forcing ingredients through a die, making the feed more digestible and durable.
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Procedure of Feed Manufacturing in a Feed MillProcedure of Feed Manufacturing in a Feed Mill
The feed manufacturing process includes several operations, typically involving the following steps:
1. Raw Material Storage and Selection: Proper storage of raw materials and finished feeds is essential for preventing losses and maintaining quality.
2. Raw Material Weighing: Accurate weighing of raw materials according to the formulation is one of the most critical operations in feed manufacturing since no mechanical process can compensate for missing nutrients.
3. Raw Material Grinding: Grinding raw materials, which may occur before or after weighing, is an energy-intensive process. Hammer mills are the most common machines for grinding, where high-speed rotating hammers break down the raw material until it can pass through a perforated screen.
4. Mixing of Dry Ingredients and Addition of Liquids: The mixer produces a homogenous blend of all desired raw materials to ensure each feeding period provides a balanced mix of nutrients for the animals. Good mixing is especially important for young animals, whose nutrient intake is more variable.
5. Pelleting of Mixed Feed (Optional): Pelleting involves compressing mixed feed through holes in a die using steel rollers. Pelleting is energy-intensive and requires significant power to form smaller pellets, which increases manufacturing costs.
6. Blended Feed Bagging, Storage, and Dispatch: Blended feeds are typically bagged in sacks, although large livestock operations may use bins or trucks for distribution. Bags are filled directly from mixers or holding bins, weighed, and sealed for storage or shipment. Care should be taken if reusing bags, as previous contents may include chemicals harmful to livestock.
Compound Feed Mills
Compound feed mills may be linked to a source of raw materials, such as a wheat mill or an oilseed processing plant, or they may be independent. Traditionally, the feed industry is associated with raw material supply, which is often a by-product of other processes and of low value relative to the primary product.
The process of manufacturing animal feed converts raw materials with varied physical, chemical, and nutritional characteristics into a homogenous mixture suitable for feeding animals.
This process is largely physical, though some raw materials may undergo extensive processing before inclusion in the feed. For example, oilseeds may have oil extracted, beans may be heat-treated to eliminate anti-nutritive factors, or fishmeal and meat meal may be processed for inclusion in the final feed product.
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