nutritional difference in pellets vs mash

[hersheyhappyhens]

Is there any research on the nutritional content of pellets vs mash feed. Since the pellets are heated at various temps from my investigation, I am wondering if there is a loss of nutritional value? Our goal is to keep flock health the priority.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The primary feed types are pellets, crumbles and mash. There are also feeds that are formulated with more whole seed content, giving the appearance of being more wholesome. (not necessarily the case)
Scratch and peck comes to mind plus a few others.
In answer to your question.
They are essentially the same. The formulas are the same for the same given feed type. The heat applied, usually as steam is to prepare the legume content to be utilized as food, removing the antinutritional constituents common in most uncooked legumes.
Mash doesn't have a binding agent. Pellets and crumbles do. To make product other than mash, the mash is mixed with a binding agent and run through a pelletizer.
To make crumbles, the pellets are run through a crumbler.
One needs to look at the nutritional requirements of the animal fed.
Not just the species but also the age life stage at which animals (and people) have different requirements for optimal growth and development.
That nutrition doesn't come from vegetative sources alone. Chickens are omnivores. Left to their own devices in nature, they will eat a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates. Virtually anything that moves. From those sources, they get the range of essential amino acids necessary. Young birds, whether chickens, other galliformes and virtually all species require higher protein. That doesn't come from vegetative sources.
Most feeds have at their core a grain and a legume. These complement each other in their amino acid makeup but are still not complete. It is decided what the nutritional level needs to be for the animal being fed. For instance, chicks need a higher protein, usually starter or grower feed, sometimes an all flock type feed (also higher in protein than layer or finisher feed. To make up the amino acid deficiencies of the grain and legume, synthetic Lysine and Methionine are added.
Higher levels of vitamins and minerals are needed for optimal growth and body processes as well as fats. These along with the essential amino acids are added as powders mixed with the ground primary ingredients.
Over time, some of these powders separate from the feed. When feeding pellets, you end up seeing fines at the bottom of the feeder after the pellets or crumbles have been eaten. These fines contain all the goodies that are added as powders.
Another thing to consider is that mash usually comes from independent feed mills because they don't have the specialized pelletizers and crumblers of the big mills. All they have are grinders, hammermills and mixers. Mash is also often fed to cage layers.
Mash and even crumbles can sometimes cause issues because evolution has made chickens and most birds able to eat a variety of foodstuffs, not just a steady diet of powders. The crop and gizzard are parts of the anatomy that accommodate that variety. That's why a chicken can eat forbs, a whole mouse or large grasshopper as well as all size and hardness of seeds. The crop will expand to accept whatever the chicken can swallow. Without hands, teeth or knives and forks, the gizzard breaks down the larger, harder items aiding digestion.
Hope this helps. If any confusion persists, just ask.

 

[hersheyhappyhens]

Wow! You are a true teacher. I did not consider that heat is needed for some of the legumes to become utilized for the digestion. If there were legumes such as peas or soy in mash would that mean they are not heated treated and thus less efficient as feed? Or do they heat legumes first and then add to mash. Thanks for you information.

 

[Bawkbok]

The primary feed types are pellets, crumbles and mash. There are also feeds that are formulated from more whole seeds, giving the appearance of being more wholesome. (not necessarily the case)
In answer to your question.
They are essentially the same. The formulas are the same for the same given feed type. The heat applied, usually as steam is to prepare the legume content to be utilized as food, removing the antinutritional constituents common in most uncooked legumes.
Mash doesn't have a binding agent. Pellets and crumbles do. To make product other than mash, the mash is mixed with a binding agent and run through a pelletizer.
To make crumbles, the pellets are run through a crumbler.
One needs to look at the nutritional requirements of the animal fed.
Not just the species but also the age life stage at which animals (and people) have different requirements for optimal growth and development.
That nutrition doesn't come from vegetative sources alone. Chickens are omnivores. Left to their own devices in nature, they will eat a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates. Virtually anything that moves. From those sources, they get the range of essential amino acids necessary. Young birds, whether chickens, other galliformes and virtually all species require higher protein. That doesn't come from vegetative sources.
Most feeds have at their core a grain and a legume. These complement each other in their amino acid makeup but are still not complete. It is decided what the nutritional level needs to be for the animal being fed. For instance, chicks need a higher protein, usually starter or grower feed, sometimes an all flock type feed (also higher in protein than layer or finisher feed. To make up the amino acid deficiencies of the grain and legume, synthetic Lysine and Methionine are added.
Higher levels of vitamins and minerals are needed for optimal growth and body processes as well as fats. These along with the essential amino acids are added as powders mixed with the ground primary ingredients.
Over time, some of these powders separate from the feed. When feeding pellets, you end up seeing fines at the bottom of the feeder after the pellets or crumbles have been eaten. These fines contain all the goodies that are added as powders.
Another thing to consider is that mash usually comes from independent feed mills because they don't have the specialized pelletizers and crumblers of the big mills. All they have are grinders, hammermills and mixers. Mash is also often fed to cage layers.
Mash and even crumbles can sometimes cause issues because evolution has made chickens and most birds able to eat a variety of foodstuffs, not just a steady diet of powders. The crop and gizzard are parts of the anatomy that accommodate that variety. That's why a chicken can eat forbs, a whole mouse or large grasshopper as well as all size and hardness of seeds. The crop will expand to accept whatever the chicken can swallow. Without hands, teeth or knives and forks, the gizzard breaks down the larger, harder items aiding digestion.
Hope this helps. If any confusion persists, just ask.

This was extremely informative and articulated very well. Thank you for the explanation.

 

[Bawkbok]

Looking at your gallery - you have beautiful birds and a garden that rocks!!!

I so miss the snow.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Wow! You are a true teacher. I did not consider that heat is needed for some of the legumes to become utilized for the digestion. If there were legumes such as peas or soy in mash would that mean they are not heated treated and thus less efficient as feed? Or do they heat legumes first and then add to mash. Thanks for you information.

Actually, all soy needs to be cooked before using for food. So that takes place either before or normally after grinding and then is added to the rest of the ingredients to make the finished mash product.
I recall from my experience in mills, the steam is applied to heat treat the legume on the conveyor after being ground before being mixed with anything else.
You wouldn't want to heat treat the added vitamins.

 

[hersheyhappyhens]

That was helpful. I knew it was supposed to be cooked, but not sure how that process went for the feed prep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is there any research on the nutritional content of pellets vs mash feed. Since the pellets are heated at various temps from my investigation, I am wondering if there is a loss of nutritional value? Our goal is to keep flock health the priority.

Look at the label for the analysis. You can find differences but that's not because of the differences between pellets, crumbles, or mash. Pellets, crumbles, and mash are just forms of the food that can suit the ages of the chickens eating them or the equipment used to distribute them if you are using automatic feeders like the commercial operations do. Some of us may find we get less waste with crumbles or pellets. If you feed mash you might want to serve it damp as a paste so the ingredients don't sort themselves out due to differences in specific gravity. I feed crumbles because I often have very young chicks with the flock.

Different labels can show different things but typically you see how much protein, calcium, amino acids, fiber, fats, and such they contain. Nutritional content is show in the analysis, has nothing to do with form. So match the analysis you want with the form you want to select which feed you want.

 

[hersheyhappyhens]

If I understand correctly all the added minerals and supplements are added after the heat treatment of the legumes. Does that apply to the heat treat and steam when forming pellets. Just trying to understand if quality of feed is diminished from heat. That being said mash would not be heated except for the legumes? Then once the legumes are cooled added to the process to make the mash.

 

[NatJ]

If I understand correctly all the added minerals and supplements are added after the heat treatment of the legumes. Does that apply to the heat treat and steam when forming pellets. Just trying to understand if quality of feed is diminished from heat. That being said mash would not be heated except for the legumes? Then once the legumes are cooled added to the process to make the mash.

If you are buying feed, just read the label and see if it has the right amounts. The label is supposed to accurately list the nutrients in the finished feed.

If pelleting will reduce some of the nutrients, the company can take that into consideration when making the feed in the first place: put in an amount that will be correct after pelleting. At some point they probably did a sample batch, measured how much of what was in the finished feed, and adjusted the recipe until it was correct.