dried animal food

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Dry feed for horses

Dry food is a food consisting of dried food or feed materials (ingredients) for pets such as dogs , cats , rodents , birds , ornamental fish and other pets . It is easy to dose and can be stored for up to 12 months if stored in a cool, dry place. Dry food is offered as solid, uniform pieces (pellets, biscuits, croquettes) or as mixtures.

Content

The residual water content (moisture) is a maximum of 14%. In dry feed, such as is offered for rabbits or rodents, there is hay , grain (for concentrate eaters such as hamsters and the large mouse relatives; for pasture-goers / substrate selectors little or no grain as grains or flakes, possibly bran) or various fruits and / or vegetables . In addition to grain and animal components, the ingredients of dog and cat food include yeast, vegetables, minerals, vitamins, etc. Depending on the recipe, dog biscuits are made from wheat or corn grits , see also dog food .

Manufacturing

Extrusion process

Dry feed is made by baking or extrusion . The raw material mixture is pressed into various shapes in a screw in the extruder under high pressure and possibly with steam (e.g. croquettes). The heating during baking or extrusion breaks down carbohydrates and makes them easier to digest. Then vitamins and solutions of protein hydrolytes or fats are sprayed on to supplement the nutrients or to increase acceptance. This is called coating. If the fat content is very high, vacuum coating is used to obtain a fat-free surface. After extrusion and coating, the feed is dried and cooled to specified values.

One of the first manufacturers of dry food was the US company Purina . Its founder, William H. Danforth, began producing dry feed for various farm animals in 1894. "Purina Horse Chow", "Purina Dog Chow", "Purina Cat Chow", "Purina Rabbit Chow", "Purina Pig Chow" and even "Purina Monkey Chow" were produced under the name "Chow" . The development and manufacture of dry food is a thriving industry today. For example, a wide range of ornamental fish food is offered that meets the needs of a wide variety of fish species.

Pelleting process

In addition to extruded dry food, pelletized dry food has also found its way into dog food in recent years. Originally mainly used for the production of concentrated feed , so-called "pressed dog food" has been available for several years. The necessary raw materials (meat, vegetables, cereals, herbs, etc.) are mainly mixed in ground form to form a feed mixture. During this process, the ingredients are sprayed with cold water, which causes the feed mass to stick together when it is pushed through a die, thus creating the pellets.

Proponents of these products emphasize the advantage over other processes that the raw materials for this process are only heated to a temperature of more than 70 degrees and thus the raw materials retain their value. The so-called coating can be dispensed with, with the result that no synthetic substances have to be used for preservation. In contrast to extruded products, pressed food shows no "sponge effect"; d. In other words, the pressed food does not soak up the liquid in the digestive tract, which would dilate the stomach, but instead breaks down into flour again in the stomach.

Health aspects

When feeding dry food to domestic cats, care must be taken to ensure that they consume sufficient water to prevent the formation of urinary stones .

Web links

Wiktionary: dry food  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Dry Food  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.purinamills.com/ourheritage/default.aspx
  2. Dissertation from 2003 PDF file 5MB in size, page 17ff