Abstract:
A chewy, particular animal fodder for ruminants is prepared by blending fibrous plant materials with a gelatinizable binder while the binder is in a substantially non-gelatinized condition, and subjecting the mixture to controlled conditions of temperature, moisture and pressure effective to gelatinize the binder while simultaneously intimately mixing the fibrous plant material and gelatinized binder and forming therefrom a viscous coherent fluid mass. The mass is extruded, pressed or otherwise formed into particles which are then dried to produce an animal fodder of high nutrient value. The gelatinization of the binder, the mixing of the gelatinized binder with the fibrous plant material, and the formation of the particles from the resulting mixture are accomplished in essentially a single processing step using but one piece of equipment. The moisture required for gelatinization can be derived solely from the moisture in the fibrous plant material or can be externally supplied to the mixture of plant material and binder, such as by treating the mixture directly with water or steam. The fodder can be prepared in various types of commercially available extruders and similar equipment.