 Evaluation of pellet quality is a necessary component of any feed manufacturing quality assurance program. During pelleting, individual ingredients or mixed feeds are agglomerated and shaped using steam, which provides heat and moisture and pressure created between a pellet dye and two or three rolls depending on pellet mill design. In the United States, broilers consume approximately 50 million metric tons of feed each year, which represent between 60 and 70% of the total production costs. Since feed is typically intended to be fed as a sole source of nutrients, it is critical to ensure good physical and nutritional feed quality at the feeder level to make sure that birds receive all the essential nutrients in every single bite. Pellet and crumble quality is the capacity of pellets and crumbles to withstand repeated handling after they are extruded from the pellet mill until they reach the feeders without excessive breakage or generation of fines. There are several factors that influence pellet quality such as feed formulation, particle size of ingredients, conditioning temperature, dye specifications and cooler. For example, including 15% wheat or a pellet binder, increasing conditioning temperature, reducing particle size or using thicker dyes increase pellet quality. Other factors which are at times overlooked is fat addition in the mixer and pellet production rate. Higher fat addition and higher throughput can reduce pellet quality due to lower friction generation and lower compaction of the pellets inside the dye holes. Good quality pellets will reduce feed wastage, dustiness, selective feeding and nutritional segregation. Additional benefits from pelleting include reduction in the bacterial load, which depends on conditioning temperature and retention time, as well as better animal performance and feed efficiency. Most pellet quality tests can be classified as either abrasion or impact tests and used to quantify the ability of pellets to withstand contact stresses such as the free fall into a finished feed bin or erosive stresses during conveyance using a screw conveyor or drag chain. Pellet quality is usually expressed as the pellet durability index and measured by using a tumbling can device also often called the Kansas State Tumble Test, which is popular in the United States as it imitates the conveyance mechanisms used in the United States feed mills. The Holmen pellet tester is used in Europe and other regions of the world where pneumatic transportation is popular. Pellet durability should be tested immediately after cooling by collecting a representative sample of approximately 1 kilogram or 2.5 pounds when the temperature of the pellets is within plus or minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 degrees Celsius. Once the sample has been collected, samples must be sent to the quality control lab. Pellet samples must be sieved on the appropriate sieve to remove all fines following the recommendations of the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard and weigh 500 grams of sieved pellets. Place the sieved pellets in the tumbling can device and tumble the sample for 10 minutes. It is important to use a consistent starting weight to conduct a repeatable analysis changing the weight of whole pellets at the beginning of the test significantly change the PDI results. After tumbling, remove the sample. Siv the sample using the same sieve used at the beginning of the test and weigh the whole pellets after tumbling. Calculate the percent of the whole pellet by dividing the weight of the pellets after tumbling by the weight of the pellets before tumbling and then multiplying it by 100. The standard method is often modified to represent a company's manufacturing and delivery processes by adding items to the tumbling can device. Modifications can be done adding hex nuts to stimulate downstream bulk handling. The Holman durability method uses air to create abrasion of the pellets similar to pneumatic conveyed systems. The sample collection and fines removal is identical to the tumbling can methodology. However, only 100 grams of sieved pellets are needed. Place the sieved pellets into the testing chamber. Run the sample with forced air for 30, 60, 90 or 120 seconds. You need to select a time cycle that mimics best your handling and transportation systems so you can predict better the feed quality at the feeder level. After the time is up, remove the sample from the testing chamber and weigh the remaining sample. Each feed mill should use a method that imitates handling equipment at the feed mill and type in condition of the delivery equipment in order to predict pellet quality at feeder level. At the farm, it is important to take multiple samples to evaluate nutritional and physical segregation across feed lines. Pelleting is an expensive process, but the additional expense in pelleting is typically compensated by enhanced animal performance.