Particles Size as Feed Quality Parameter in Ghana - A Case Study of Dormaa Municipality

There is a general agreement between researchers that particle size of poultry feed should be between the size ranges of 600-900 µm. This study investigated the particle size of poultry feed produced in the Dormaa Municipality of Ghana. A survey was conducted on various feed mills which were made up of nine onfarm mills and five communitybased commercial mills. Feed samples were collected from each mill and analyzed using the sieving method for the particle size. The results showed that 42% of mills produced feed coarser than the accepted particle size ranges of 600-900 µm. The geometric mean diameter (GMD) of the samples ranged from 608-1791 µm. A comparison of the onfarm and commercial feed mills showed that there was no significant difference (P = 0.669) between GMDs of the feed produced by the commercial and onfarm mills. This study confirmed that particle size analysis should be carried out routinely at the feed mills, in order to control the quality of the feed being produced.