How to Make Animal Feed Pellets on Your Farm (U.S. Guide)
To make balanced feed pellets on your farm, set a nutrient target for each animal, build a ration from tested ingredients, grind and mix them, press the mash through a pellet mill, then cool the pellets and store them dry. The machines are the simple part. The formula decides how your animals perform, so this guide spends as much time on the ration as on the equipment, and it ends with the U.S. rules that apply when you feed your own animals or sell feed.
Is making your own feed worth it?
It usually pays when you grow some of your own grain or forage, feed enough animals to run the mill regularly, or need a ration you cannot buy nearby. It rarely pays for a handful of animals, because even a small batch needs a complete vitamin and mineral package and accurate mixing. Extension specialists are direct about this. One swine nutrition guide advises buying complete commercial rations unless you have extensive formulation experience.
Run the numbers before you buy anything:
Savings per ton = delivered price of the feed you buy today, minus ingredients, premix, power, labor and wear parts.
Payback in tons = equipment cost divided by savings per ton.
As an illustration, a $12,000 line that saves $60 per ton pays for itself after 200 tons. Use your own local prices, because both numbers vary widely.
Step 1: Set the target for each animal
These are common crude protein targets from U.S. extension and veterinary references. Poultry and pig figures refer to the complete feed. Goat figures refer to the total diet on a dry-matter basis, forage included.
Animal | Stage | Crude protein |
|---|---|---|
Layer-type chicks | First 6 to 8 weeks | 18 to 20% |
Pullets | Up to 18 weeks | 14 to 15% |
Laying hens | Over 18 weeks | 16 to 18% |
Broilers | Starter | About 23% |
Broilers | Grower | 19 to 20% |
Broilers | Finisher | 15 to 18% |
Pigs | Grower, 50 to 120 lb | 15 to 16% |
Pigs | Finisher, 120 to 300 lb | 13 to 14% |
Goats | Very young kids to weaned kids | 16% down to 10% |
Goats | Late pregnancy | 12 to 16% |
Goats | High-producing dairy does | Up to 20% in early lactation |
Rabbits | Growing | 12 to 15%, with 20 to 27% fiber |
Rabbits | Pregnant or nursing does | 16 to 20%, with 15 to 20% fiber |
Catfish | Grow-out | 28 to 32%, usually as floating feed |
Beef cattle are different. Their protein need depends on weight, stage and forage quality, so a pellet is usually a supplement balanced against your forage test rather than a fixed percentage.
Protein is only part of the job. Amino acids, energy, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins and trace minerals all matter. Calcium is a good example: Alabama Extension warns that a layer diet fed to young birds can cause improper bone formation, kidney failure and death, while layer feed itself should carry at least 2.5 to 3.5% calcium.
Step 2: Build the ration
The Pearson square is the classic way to balance protein between two ingredients. Here is a worked example for a 16% layer feed, using typical values of 8.5% protein for corn and 44% for soybean meal. Test your own ingredients, because real values vary.
Reserve 10% of the batch for limestone and a vitamin-mineral premix. They carry no protein.
The other 90% must supply all the protein, so its target is 16 ÷ 0.90 = 17.8%.
Corn parts: 44 − 17.8 = 26.2. Soybean meal parts: 17.8 − 8.5 = 9.3. Total: 35.5 parts.
That is 73.8% corn and 26.2% soybean meal in the grain portion.
Ingredient | Share of batch | In a 1,000 lb batch |
|---|---|---|
Corn | 66.4% | 664 lb |
Soybean meal | 23.6% | 236 lb |
Limestone and premix | 10% | 100 lb |
Check it: 664 × 0.085 + 236 × 0.44 = 160 lb of protein, which is 16% of the batch.
This balances protein only. It is a starting exercise, not a finished formula. Follow the premix label for inclusion rates, check amino acids, calcium and phosphorus, and have a nutritionist or your extension office review the ration before you feed it.
Test what goes in. Moldy grain can carry aflatoxin. FDA action levels run from 20 ppb for most feeds and for young animals up to 300 ppb for corn fed to feedlot beef cattle. Test corn in any year or region with drought stress.
Step 3: Grind
A hammer mill reduces grain and forage so the mash packs tightly in the die. Particles must be smaller than the die holes. A 2 to 3 mm screen is a sensible start for a 3 to 4 mm die. Adjust from there, because screen size, hammer wear and material all change the grind. Keep metal out of the mill, since a bolt or nail can damage hammers and dies.
Step 4: Mix
Uniformity matters most for the small ingredients. Blend premix into a few pounds of ground grain first, then add that to a horizontal mixer with the main ingredients. Do not overfill the mixer, and do not cut the mixing time short.
Plan your batch order. Mixers need a cleanout or a non-sensitive batch to avoid carryover between rations. This is a safety issue: sheep are the species most susceptible to copper toxicosis, so a ration containing added copper for other animals should not be followed by a sheep ration without cleaning out.
Step 5: Pellet
Commercial mills use steam. In a Kansas State study, raising conditioning temperature from no steam to 190°F took a corn and soybean meal diet from 3.3% to 91.1% durability. The authors recommend a conditioned mash near 17 to 18% moisture and about 180°F.
Most farm-scale flat die mills have no steam conditioner and rely on friction heat, so plan around that:
Grind finer than you would for a steam mill.
Add water in small steps. Aim for about 15% mash moisture, then adjust by results.
Include some wheat, forage or other material that binds well if a straight corn and soybean diet crumbles.
Expect softer pellets than bagged commercial feed, and test before committing a full batch.
End each run with a little oily mash so material does not set in the die.
Die size depends on the animal. A common rule of thumb:
Animal | Die hole |
|---|---|
Poultry, rabbits, small stock | 3 to 4 mm |
Sheep, goats, pigs | 6 mm |
Cattle, horses, deer | 8 mm and up |
Chicks | Make a small pellet and crush it into crumbles |
Research on broiler feed found that going from 3 mm to 5 mm holes lowered durability, so use the smallest die your animal and your throughput allow. Our flat die mills ship with a 6 mm die, and optional dies run from 2.5 mm to 10 mm.
Step 6: Cool, screen and store
Pellets leave the die hot and soft. Cooling hardens them, because dissolved components recrystallize and bond the particles together. For small batches, spread pellets in a thin layer on a screen. For continuous production, use a contraflow cooler. Screen out fines and run them through the mill again.
Store pellets cool and dry. Keep them at about 10 to 13% moisture, since mold and spoilage risk rises noticeably above 14 to 15%. In humid states, watch for condensation in metal bins when nights cool sharply. Make only what you will use within a few weeks, and rotate stock so the oldest feed goes first.
To check quality, use the standard durability test: tumble a 500 g sample for 10 minutes at 50 rpm and weigh the pellets that stay whole. For a quick farm check, a good pellet should snap rather than crumble.
What you need
Step | Machine |
|---|---|
Grinding | |
Mixing | |
Pelleting, small to medium volume | |
Pelleting, continuous production | |
High-fiber or low-friction mixes | |
Floating fish feed and kibble | |
Moving material between steps |
Not sure which power option fits your farm? Read what the letters A, B, C, P and RB mean.
U.S. rules to know
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the details with your state feed control office.
Feeding your own animals. Under FDA's animal food rule, an on-farm mill is generally treated as part of the farm when it is run by the same operation, in the same general location, and feeds only that farm's animals. Penn State Extension and this summary of the rule explain it.
Selling feed. Selling to another farm changes your status, and FDA registration and preventive controls can apply. Feed is also regulated state by state, through product registration, a company license or both, plus labels and often tonnage fees.
Ruminant feed ban. 21 CFR 589.2000 prohibits most mammalian protein in feed for ruminants, including cattle, sheep, goats, deer and elk.
Medicated feed. Antibiotics that require a Veterinary Feed Directive come with record-keeping and mixing rules, and some drug concentrates can only be used by an FDA-licensed mill. Talk to your veterinarian before adding any drug to a home-mixed ration.
Frequently asked questions
What size pellet mill do I need for my farm? Work out how many pounds of feed you use per week and how many hours you want to run the mill, then compare that with the output on the product page. Our capacity guide walks through the math.
Can I make feed pellets without a pellet mill? Not durable ones. If you do not need pellets, you can feed the ground, mixed ration as mash, although it is dustier and animals can sort it.
Do I need a binder? Often not, if the mix includes wheat, forage or other ingredients that bind well. Straight corn and soybean diets are harder to pellet without steam.
Can the same mill make wood pellets and feed? Yes, with a thorough cleanout between jobs. Flush the die with feed-grade material and discard that batch. Never run manure or fertilizer through a mill you use for feed.
How long do homemade pellets keep? It depends on moisture, heat and humidity. Vitamins degrade with time, so plan on weeks rather than months, and throw out anything that smells musty or shows mold.
Can I sell the feed I make? Yes, but you must meet your state's commercial feed rules first. Start with the state feed control official for each state where you plan to sell.
Ready to size your line?
USA Pellet Mill machines ship from our facility in Opa-locka, Florida, assembled and tested before delivery. Tell us your animals, weekly volume and available power, and we will help you match the machines. See what to prepare for a quote.
Sources and further reading
Management Requirements for Laying Flocks, Penn State Extension
Nutritional Requirements of Beef Cattle, Merck Veterinary Manual
Rabbit Tracks: Feeds and Feeding, Michigan State University Extension
