Effects of production time, die condition, and feed mill on the physical quality of commercial broiler diets

Authors: McCafferty, Klint; Purswell, Joseph - Jody

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/12/2024
Publication Date: 4/16/2024
Citation: Mccafferty, K.W., Purswell, J.L. 2024. Effects of production time, die condition, and feed mill on the physical quality of commercial broiler diets. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 33(3), 100430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japr.2024.100430.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japr.2024.100430

Interpretive Summary: Increasing the density of feed through pelleting is one of the primary means for improving the quality of broiler diets. Pelleting has been observed to improve broiler growth performance and nutrient utilization, but various milling conditions can affect not only the quantity, but also quality of pellets produced, and ultimate feed form composition. The pellet die is a critical element in the pellet production process, but limited research has evaluated the effects of pellet die wear and die condition on the physical quality of commercial broiler diets. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effects of die wear (12-week production cycle), die condition (new or reconditioned), and feed mill on the physical quality of commercial broiler diets. In general, die wear did not affect the physical quality of feed. However, die condition and feed mill interacted to affect the concentration of pellets and fines at one feed mill, with the new die producing a higher concentration of pellets and lower concentration of crumbles compared with the new die. Moreover, feed mill affected pellet durability index, modified pellet durability index, percent pellets, percent crumbles, and percent fines. These results indicate that die wear did not influence the physical quality of broiler diets but die condition may influence feed form composition, but this effect appears to be feed mill dependent. Lastly, feed mill most affected the physical quality of broiler diets.

Technical Abstract: A variety of milling conditions can impact the physical quality (pellet durability index (PDI) and feed form (FF) composition) of broiler diets. Likewise, FF composition has been observed to affect broiler prehension and feed consumption patterns. Numerical differences in nutrient composition between pellets and fines have also been reported. Therefore, feeding diets with poor physical quality may lead to variations in nutrient intake among broilers. Reductions in the physical quality of feed could be partially related to frictional die wear. However, no research has indirectly evaluated the effects of die wear (i.e. production time) on the physical quality of finished feed from commercial feed mills. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to quantify the effects of production time, die condition (new or reconditioned), and feed mill on PDI and FF composition of finisher 1 broiler diets from 4 commercial feed mills over a 12-week production period. Production time (P > 0.05) did not affect dietary PDI and FF composition during each production period. Die condition and feed mill interacted (P < 0.05) to affect FF composition at one feed mill with the new die producing a higher and lower concentration of pellets and crumbles, respectively, than the reconditioned die. However, feed mill (P < 0.05) affected all measures. Thus, the physical quality of broiler diets is not affected by production time but die condition may influence FF composition. However, this effect was feed mill dependent. Overall, feed mill was most responsible for the physical quality of broiler diets.