Development of low cost feed pelleting machine for intensive goat rearing.

摘要

In an intensive system of goat rearing for commercial purpose, the feed cost accounts for 65-70% of the total production cost. The existing feed plants in India mostly cater to the requirements of the large ruminants and do not include locally available nutrient enriched feed materials in the composition. The extensive system of goat rearing is slowly taking back seat and giving way to semi intensive and intensive system of goat rearing. This necessitates the inclusion of locally available nutrient enriched feed material to maximize the return. A low-cost pelleting machine designed and developed at the Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, was tested for the preparation of concentrate pellets. The machine consisted of an angle iron frame for mounting all components - augur, augur housing with integrated feeding mouth, main shaft to drive the augur and set of multi-hole pressure plates (6, 8, 10 mm diameter). It was observed that the performance of the pelleting machine was affected by the particle size of the feed ingredients, mixing of the ingredients, moisture content of the ingredients and material flow rate. The output of the machine was evaluated to be 30-40 kg/h. The economics of the pellet-making can be calculated after extensive testing of the prototype.