Is it possible to give peas to laying hens: feeding rules, in what form to introduce into the diet

Farmers carefully consider the diet of feathered pets, but many poultry farmers doubt whether hard or steamed peas can be given to laying hens. Legumes benefit the bird's body, contain a considerable amount of vitamins and bioactive compounds. But in order not to harm feathered pets, you should follow the rules for including the product in the diet.

Can chickens be given peas?

For laying hens, peas are useful, its presence in the diet is recommended. Bean groats are a rich supplier of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids, and mineral elements to the body of birds.Like other representatives of legumes, peas stimulate egg production in laying hens. Therefore, many farmers prefer to give it to their hens during the autumn and winter months to increase their egg production.

Chickens have poorly developed taste buds. They use peas without problems, both in a separate form and as part of liquid mash and dry legume mixture.

Laying hens should be taught to beans gradually. In order for the bird to get used to the new product, it should first be given in a steamed or not very boiled form. After thermal exposure, the cereal softens, is more actively absorbed in the bird's body.

The steaming process is simple: you need to immerse the peas in a container with boiling water, leave to cool.

Benefits and harms

Peas bring great benefits to the body of laying hens, due to the rich content of bioactive substances:

• prevents mineral, amino acid, vitamin deficiency;
• increases the number of eggs produced by chickens;
• improves the condition of the skin and feather cover of birds;
• maintains the normal functional state of the heart, vascular system, digestive tract;
• normalizes the processes of oxidation, recovery in the body;
• strengthens the immune system, increases the body's resistance to infection;
• gently cleanses the kidneys and liver of toxins.

Not only cereals, but all parts of legumes bring benefits to the body of chickens. Farmers dry pea greens to make silage.

The product can only harm if it is given dry to laying hens who are not accustomed to receiving such food, and also if the norms for inclusion in the diet for adult chickens and chicks are not observed.If a chicken without a habit eats dry peas, then its digestive tract may be disrupted, and the substances contained in the product will be inaccessible for absorption.

Composition

Peas are rich in substances necessary for birds. It contains:

• B vitamins, tocopherol, biotin;
• mineral elements - potassium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, silicon, iron, manganese, copper;
• amino acids - more than 10 essential and almost 90 non-essential;
• omega group and other fatty acids.

Cost

The advantage of bean food is its economy. With the introduction of cereals in the diet, the cost of feed is reduced by several percent. Peas can be successfully used as a substitute for expensive bone and fish meal.

Nutritional value

Peas are a high-protein product. The concentration of proteins in it is at least 2 times higher than in grain food. Therefore, legumes are used in poultry farming as the main source of vegetable protein, which is necessary for building tissues in the bird's body.

And pea groats have a high energy value. There are about 300 kcal in 100 grams of the product.

Digestion process

It is undesirable to give beans to small chicks, they may have a disruption of the digestive tract. High protein feed can be included in the diet of chicks as young as 2 weeks of age.

Groats are offered to adult laying hens without fear, but to improve the digestibility of heavy protein foods, it is advisable to give the birds additional sand and small pebbles. They are harmless to the bird's body, grind food in the digestive tract, so that it is digested faster.

Feeding rules for peas

Laying hens can be given any legume, but pea digestion is the best. The optimal volume of cereals for an adult laying hen is 15-20% of the total food volume. Chickens are given a little less - about 10%. The product is given to chicks exclusively in a steamed form, "teenagers" can be fed with raw cereals added to a liquid mash.

It is useful to give sprouted peas to laying hens. The green mass is finely chopped, included in the liquid vegetable mixes. During the colder months, when fresh herbs are not available, poultry farmers provide flour from dried leguminous herbs.

When not to give?

A bird that is not accustomed to heavy high-protein food should not be given a dry product immediately. The transition from steamed to hard grits should be gradual.

Peas are placed in the feeder not in a whole, but in a crushed form. It is forbidden to give a whole product to laying hens - the bird's stomach will not digest it.

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