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Feed Processing

How to Start a Small Feed Pellet Plant: Equipment, Layout and Process

The machines, floor plan, power supply and process steps for a 300 kg/h to 2 t/h animal feed pellet plant.

How to Start a Small Feed Pellet Plant: Equipment, Layout and Process

Quick answer

A small feed pellet plant needs five steps: grinding (hammer mill), mixing (vertical mixer), conveying (screw auger), pelleting (flat-die pellet mill) and cooling/bagging. A 1 t/h line typically needs about 120 m² of floor space, 40–50 kW of installed power and two operators.

The five process steps

  1. Grinding — reduce grain and meal to below 3 mm with a hammer mill.
  2. Batching and mixing — weigh ingredients and premix, blend for 5–10 minutes.
  3. Conveying — lift mash into the pellet mill hopper with a screw auger.
  4. Pelleting — compress through the die; condition mash to 13–17% moisture first.
  5. Cooling and bagging — cool pellets to near ambient temperature before bagging to prevent mould.

Choosing line capacity

Target outputPellet millHammer millTypical use
100–200 kg/hModel 150 / 160300–600 kg/hOwn farm, rabbits, small poultry
400–800 kg/hModel 210 / 2601–1.35 t/hCommercial farm, village feed shop
1.5–2 t/hModel 400 or 2 × 2601.5 t/hSmall feed mill

Size the hammer mill at roughly 1.5× pellet mill capacity, because grinding throughput drops with fine screens.

Layout and utilities

  • Arrange machines in a straight or L-shaped flow to minimise handling.
  • Keep raw material and finished pellet storage separate and dry.
  • Three-phase 380 V power is strongly recommended above 200 kg/h.
  • Provide ventilation and a cyclone or dust collector for the grinding area.

Pellet quality basics

Hard, durable pellets come from correct particle size, conditioning moisture, die compression ratio and fresh rollers. If pellets crumble, check moisture first, then die wear. Starch-rich formulas pellet more easily than high-fibre ones.

Next step

Send us your target species, daily output and available power. We will propose a line layout with equipment list and installed power within two working days.

Harvelt Engineering Team

Application engineers who specify forage, feed-processing and farm machinery for buyers worldwide. Questions about this article? Contact us.

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