Design and Construction of Vertical Livestock Feed Mixer

Abstract

The development of a feed mixer plays a vital role in optimizing the feed production process in various agricultural and livestock industries. Thus, for better nutrition, improved feed efficiency, cost, and waste reduction, locally designed and fabricated feed mixers using locally available materials are essential and highly required. The volume of the mixing chamber, shaft diameter, belt selection, pulley diameter, and required power to drive the shaft were well designed for. The developed feed mixer comprises the mixing chamber, hopper, auger, bearings, electric motor, and pulley, which are major components of the machine. Angle Iron bars and 2mm sheet metal made of mild steel were used in the fabrication of the frame and the mixing chamber, respectively. The degree of mixing of the sample that was collected at the end of each test and the coefficient of variation percentage were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the machine mixing operation. At a mixing shaft speed of 560 rpm and a mixing time of 4.5 minutes, the optimum values of coefficient of variation (12.01%) and degree of mixing (88.21%) were achieved. However, the fabricated feed mixing machine was evaluated to be 92% efficient.