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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mississippi State, Mississippi » Poultry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #167302
Title: GRINDING AND PELLETING RESPONSES OF PEARL MILLET-BASED DIETS

Author
item Dozier Iii, William
item HANNA, W - UNIV OF GEORGIA
item BEHNKE, K - KANSAS STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/16/2004
Publication Date: 6/15/2005
Citation: Dozier III, W.A., Hanna, W., Behnke, K. 2005. Grinding and pelleting responses of pearl millet-based diets. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 14:269-274.

Interpretive Summary: In the southeastern U.S., areas of limited rainfall and acidic soil conditions have deterred the yield and profitability of corn. Pearl millet is very efficient in producing grain under growing conditions having limited rainfall and acidic soils. The protein content of pearl millet grain is relatively high while having similar energy content compared with corn. Research has indicated that broilers provided pearl millet-based diets had similar performance to birds given feeds containing corn as the primary grain source. Since pearl millet is higher in protein than corn, it has the potential to reduce ingredient cost of the diet by $2.0/ton. This difference could potentially reduce ingredient cost by $1,000,000 for a complex producing one million broilers per week. Nearly all feeds fed to broilers are in pellet or crumble form. Information is limited on the production efficiency and energy usage associated with manufacturing pearl millet-based feeds. This research determined that pearl millet and pearl millet -based diets have acceptable grinding and pelleting performance as compared with corn and a corn-based diet. Grinding pearl millet improved production rate and required less energy usage compared with corn. Grinding pearl millet through a hammer mill screen hole size of 3.2 mm optimized grinding production rate and reduced electrical consumption. These results are useful to determine the appropriate hammer mill screen hole size for grinding pearl millet in commercial practice.

Technical Abstract: This study examined grinding and pelleting responses of pearl millet-based diets. Four treatments were employed in the grinding phase that consisted of grinding maize through a hammer mill screen hole size of 4.0 mm and pearl millet ground through hammer mill screen hole sizes of 4.0, 3.2, or 2.4 mm. In the pelleting phase, a grower broiler diet (200 g CP kg-1 feed) was manufactured. The treatment structure was a 2 (pearl millet inclusion rate) x 3 (particle sizes of ground pearl millet) factorial arrangement with a maize-soyabean meal positive control. The main factors consisted of two concentrations of millet in the diet at either 250 g or 500 g pearl millet kg-1 feed, and grinding pearl millet through a 4.0, 3.2, or 2.4 mm hammer mill screen hole size. All grain used during pelleting was derived from the grinding process. Electrical consumption of grinding was greater (P < 0.001) with maize vs. pearl millet. Reducing the hammer mill screen hole size of pearl millet, increased electrical usage (P < 0.001) and decreased particle mean diameter of the pearl millet (P < 0.001). Particle size was not affected by grain type. Decreasing the grind size of pearl millet, resulted in a linear improvement in the pellet durability index (P < 0.04) and percent fines (P < 0.03). These data indicate that pearl millet-based diets have acceptable grinding and pelleting performance compared with a typical maize-soyabean meal diet.