Abstract:Coarse fodder and concentrates are separately fed by traditional feeding technology, which tends to make ruminants select feed and cause metabolic diseases. The ruminant farming gradually adopts a total mixed ration feeding technology by which coarse fodder and concentrates are mixed uniformly according to the needs of ruminant growth and production. Aiming to promote the popularization and application of the feeding technology, a paddletype ration mixer was designed, and performance tests and parameter optimization were performed by the paddletype ration mixing experimental equipment. The equipment was used to analyze the mixing process of the rations in the mixing chamber. The distribution area of the rations in the mixing chamber was divided into the accumulation area, lifting area, slipping area and slumping area. The mixing modes of each area were as follows: shear mixing and convection mixing mainly occurred in the accumulation area and lifting area, and shear mixing and diffusion mixing mainly occurred in the slipping area and slumping area; the mixing time, rotor speed and paddle installation angle were taken as experimental factors, and the coefficient of variation and net power consumption were used as evaluation indexes. The method of orthogonal rotational combination experiment of three factors and five levels was used in experiments. The influence of the main parameters of the mixer on the mixing uniformity and power consumption was obtained. The results showed that the paddletype ration mixer can meet the requirements of ration mixing; when the filling rate was 65%, the optimal parameter combination was as follows: mixing time was 5.3min, rotor speed was 8.6r/min, and installation angle was 34°. The coefficient of variation was 7.01% and the net power consumption was 51.02kJ. The research result can provide support for the indepth research and application of ration mixers.