RICHI Machinery Reports Smooth Commissioning for Rabbit Feed Pellet Line in Belgium

Commissioning has been completed without significant issues for a 1.5 t/h rabbit feed pellet production line at a facility in Belgium's Wallonia region, serving the commercial rabbit meat production sector — an established but relatively niche segment of European livestock farming concentrated in certain countries including Belgium, France, and parts of Italy and Spain.

Rabbit feed formulas tend to emphasize fiber content more than most livestock feeds — rabbits have digestive systems that require relatively high fiber for proper gut function, and commercial rabbit feed often includes a significant proportion of alfalfa meal alongside grains and protein sources, sometimes 15-20% alfalfa or other fiber sources by formula weight, notably higher than most poultry or swine formulas.

The buyer's formula includes alfalfa meal, barley, soybean meal, and a vitamin-mineral premix, along with a coccidiostat additive (common in rabbit feed given digestive health concerns in commercial rabbit operations) dosed via the mixer.

Equipment includes a hammer mill, batch mixer, feed pellet machine (ring die, 3mm pellets — small diameter suits rabbit feeding behavior), and pellet cooler. A conditioner is included despite the relatively small scale, because the higher fiber content of rabbit feed formulas benefits from conditioning to achieve good pellet binding — fiber-heavy formulas without adequate conditioning tend to produce pellets with more fines and lower durability.

Commissioning proceeded over about three days, with the buyer's team and RICHI's commissioning engineer working through formula-specific adjustments — die gap settings were adjusted slightly from initial defaults to account for the alfalfa meal content's effect on material flow through the die, a relatively minor adjustment that took less than half a day once identified.

The small animal feed factory project is now in regular production, with the buyer reporting output consistency within expected ranges and durability test results meeting their internal quality standards for the rabbit feed product line.