Effect of formulation density, moisture, and surfactant on feed manufacturing, pellet quality, and broiler performance

Past research has illustrated that moisture addition to corn-soybean-based diets at the mixer can increase pellet durability and decrease pellet mill energy usage. Broiler feeding trials that used pelleted diets produced by the moisture addition process have illustrated that 3-to-6-wk feed efficiencies of male broilers can be significantly improved over diets manufactured without moisture. However, in these trials feed efficiency calculations were adjusted to account for variations in nutrient densities caused by moisture addition. Furthermore, variations in types of moisture additives were not explored. The current study determined the effects of different types of moisture additives (water/surfactant solution vs. water) and different formulation densities (NRC density vs. adjusted high density) on feed manufacturing, pellet quality, and 3-to-6-week male broiler performance. Control treatments, consisting of two diets with different nutrient densities without moisture additives, were also manufactured and fed. Adjusted high density broiler diets that included moisture were found to significantly increase pellet mill production rates compared to NRC control diets while maintaining similar pellet quality. Moreover, broilers fed these adjusted high density diets with moisture exhibited improved live weight gains above broilers fed diets formulated to NRC specifications with or without added moisture.