Animal feed machine prices across Africa: pellet machines and poultry feed mills — the real 2026 numbers
The bands by scale
| Scale | 2026 band (landed & commissioned) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Small plant, 1–3 t/h | US$60,000–150,000 | Grinding, mixing, pelleting, cooling, bagging — a farm-plus or community mill |
| Mid-size plant, 3–10 t/h | US$250,000–900,000 | Batching automation, intake and storage — a commercial feed business |
| Industrial mill, 10–30+ t/h | US$1.5–4M+ | Integrator-grade tower mill with full automation and silos |
For comparison, the listing-site tier: simplest ex-China clusters at 1–2 t/h trade at US$10,000–50,000, and 5–7 t/h equipment sets at US$70,000–250,000. Those numbers are honest for what they are — equipment ex-works. The gap between the two tiers is everything that makes feed actually come out of the building: intake, cleaning, electricals, installation, commissioning, and training.
The honest map by market
- Nigeria: the continent's largest poultry feed demand; local maize and soya intake design (moisture, cleaning, storage) moves project cost as much as the mill itself. Import mechanics in the Nigeria import guide.
- Zambia & Zimbabwe: strong stockfeed tradition and real maize-belt logic — pair this page with the maize milling guide, because bran off a mill is feed feedstock; landlocked landed factors ×1.45–1.60 apply. See Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Tanzania, Ghana & Mozambique: poultry-led growth with aquafeed emerging around the lakes and coast — extruded fish feed is a different machine family in the same plant logic; see the agricultural processing page.
Silos, dryers and the rest of the plant
Feed economics are storage economics: a mill that buys maize at harvest price and stores it beats a bigger mill buying monthly. Grain silos, dryers and intake conveying belong in the feasibility arithmetic from day one — they are part of the scope we quote, not an accessory list. That whole-plant view, with the six cost blocks that sit around any equipment price, is laid out in what a production line really costs.
What buyers across our markets ask
Working plants: US$60,000–150,000 at 1–3 t/h, US$250,000–900,000 at 3–10 t/h, US$1.5–4M+ industrial (landed and commissioned). Bare ex-China clusters list at US$10,000–50,000 — machinery, not a plant.
Same bands by capacity; in Nigeria the Lagos corridor factor and intake design for local maize and soya are what move the total. We quote the whole scope in writing.
A listing prices a pellet mill. A plant adds intake, cleaning, grinding, batching, mixing, cooling, bagging, electricals, installation, commissioning and training — the parts that make feed actually come out of the building.
Sizing a feed business?
Tell us the species, the tonnage and the market. We'll come back with the scale you're actually shopping in — and a landed-and-commissioned number in writing.