Grinding and pelleting responses of pearl millet-based diets

Pearl millet grain has been reported as an alternative feed ingredient for broiler chickens, but little information exists on the feed processing parameters associated with this cereal grain. This study examined grinding and pelleting responses of pearl millet-based diets. Four treatments were used in the grinding phase, which consisted of grinding corn through a hammer mill screen hole of 4.0 mm and pearl millet ground through a hammer mill screen hole of 4.0, 3.2, or 2.4 mm. In the pelleting phase, a broiler grower diet (20% CP) was manufactured. The treatment structure was a 2 (pearl millet inclusion rate) x 3 (particle sizes of ground pearl millet) factorial arrangement with a corn-soybean meal positive control. The main factors consisted of 2 concentrations of millet in the diet at 25 or 50% pearl millet feed and grinding pearl millet through a 4.0-, 3.2-, or 2.4-mm hammer mill screen hole. All grain used during pelleting was derived from the grinding process. Electrical usage during grinding was greater with corn compared with pearl millet. Reducing the hammer mill screen hole size of pearl millet increased electrical usage and decreased the mean particle diameter of pearl millet. Particle size was not affected by grain type. Decreasing the grind size of pearl millet improved pellet durability index and percentage of fines. We concluded that pearl millet-based diets have acceptable grinding and pelleting performance compared with a typical corn-soybean meal diet.