1. Prevents picky eating in animals. Formulated with a variety of ingredients, the feed is nutritionally comprehensive, preventing animals from selecting their favorite ingredients from the powder and rejecting others. Because pelleted feed maintains uniformity during storage, transportation, and feeding, it can reduce feed losses by 8%-10%.
2. High Feed Conversion Rate. During the pelleting process, the combined effects of moisture, temperature, and pressure cause physical and chemical reactions in the feed, gelatinizing starch and enhancing enzyme activity. This allows the animal to digest the feed more efficiently, resulting in weight gain. Feeding poultry and pigs with pelleted feed can improve feed conversion (i.e., conversion rate) by 10%-12% compared to using powdered feed. Feeding fattening pigs with pelleted feed increases average daily weight gain by 4% and reduces feed-to-meat ratio by 6%. For broilers, the feed-to-meat ratio can be reduced by 3%-10%.
3. More economical storage and transportation. Pelleting generally increases the bulk density of feed by 40%-100%, reducing storage space and transportation costs.
4. Good flowability makes management easier. Many powders, especially light-gravity fluff feeds, and feeds with added molasses, high fat, or urea, often cling to the feed storage. Pellets, due to their excellent flowability and minimal clinging, are a popular choice for large-scale dairy or poultry farms using automatic feeders.
5. They prevent automatic feed composition grading and reduce environmental pollution. During storage and transportation, powders are prone to grading due to varying volumes and masses. Pellets eliminate this grading and are less prone to dusting. During feeding, pellets contribute significantly less to air and moisture contamination than powders.
6. They eliminate Salmonella in animal feed. After ingestion, Salmonella bacteria remain in animal tissues, and eating infected animals can lead to salmonella-related gastrointestinal illnesses in humans. High-temperature steam conditioning followed by pelleting can eliminate Salmonella bacteria in animal feed.