Home use Pellet Mills

[ladysown]

with the rising costs of pellets, I've been thinking about making my own pellets. my feed mill working hubster is convinced we could make our own pellets cheaper than buying ready made feed.

Has anyone sussed out a NON-China source for a home use pellet mill?

 

[hotzcatz]

I didn't even know there were home pellet mill, let alone where they come from! Do you just pelletize green grasses or do they have to be dried? Don't the commercial pellets have all sorts of supposed to be beneficial additives?

 

[MuddyFarms]

This is something that I have been interested in as well. So many of them are from there- I thought I found one in Canada... but I think they were all huge, feed-store types, and they may have been sourced from Asia anyway. I will be watching this thread; please let me know what you find out about this, @ladysown !

 

[MuddyFarms]

I have been thinking about how leaves like comfrey can get so crumbly/powdery when dried that they are hard to store/feed. Curious if one could pelletize them for an easier way to feed the dried stuff in the winter and with less waste...

 

[ladysown]

they do have lots of additives, but most of those can be provided with a good loose mineral you can get through feed stores. And you can use fresh or dry ingredients as far as I can tell. I get hay for $10/bale and that will do a lot of pellets. If you use fresh ingredients you'd need to use immediately. Mixed grains, alfalfa or grass type hay and boss... would be nice to mix it all together into a nice pellet for the rabbits.

 

[dlynn]

with the rising costs of pellets, I've been thinking about making my own pellets. my feed mill working hubster is convinced we could make our own pellets cheaper than buying ready made feed.

Has anyone sussed out a NON-China source for a home use pellet mill?

I'm curious why one would want to make pellets instead of just feeding the greens? Not criticizing, I'm a newbie and just trying to understand.

 

[ladysown]

because sometimes I have picky rabbits, and pelleting everything I feed gets rid of that pickiness and still allows for my freedom in how to feed. It also means less waste as my rabbits don't waste their pellets. But feeding greens I always lose some through falling out of the cage, or through urine/fecal waste.

I am also seeing the rising costs of feed (currently $45 for two bags) and wonder if there is a better way to do that buy getting a small pellet mill (or figuring out how to make my own) and simply buying the component parts which will be cheaper than getting the finished product.

 

[dlynn]

because sometimes I have picky rabbits, and pelleting everything I feed gets rid of that pickiness and still allows for my freedom in how to feed. It also means less waste as my rabbits don't waste their pellets. But feeding greens I always lose some through falling out of the cage, or through urine/fecal waste.

I am also seeing the rising costs of feed (currently $45 for two bags) and wonder if there is a better way to do that buy getting a small pellet mill (or figuring out how to make my own) and simply buying the component parts which will be cheaper than getting the finished product.

Thanks for the info! I'm here to learn and very much appreciate those sharing.