Abstract:
This paper describes the design, construction features, operational procedures and
performance indicators of a low cost, small scale poultry feed pelleting machine.
No binding agents are used and thus mash form feeds need to be mixed with water
before being pelleted. Mash form diet mixed with water is fed to the machine
through a top loading funnel. Through a narrow neck, the wetted feed is directed to
a one end of a horizontally placed metal cylinder. A removable metal die plate is
attached to the other end of the cylinder. A screw fixed inside the cylinder is rotated
by a two wheel tractor or an electric motor. Due to the rotation of the screw, feed
entered into the cylinder moves toward the other end of the cylinder to which die
plate is fixed and comes out through the dies. Feed comes out as thread but
eventually cut into pellets. The pellet diameter is changed by using different die
plate. As feed moves through the cylinder, a heat is generated and water is removed
to a certain extent. The moisture content of the pellets could be reduced to 14% after
five hours of sun drying. The machine could pellet 40 kg/hr. The major draw back
of the machine was the difficulty of controlling pellet length. The optimum pellet
quality and machine performance were given at 450 ml/ kg of air dried feed. It was
concluded that this machine is suitable for small scale poultry farmers. Further
modifications are in progress.
