# Growing Peas for Chicken Feed



## potatoguru (May 6, 2013)

I would like to get to the point where I can produce all of my chicken feed for the year and be totally self-sufficient when it comes to feed for my hens. As of right now, I have 7 laying hens but may expand to 10 in the future. Right now I feed them only wheat that I get at the feed store, they'll also free range so they have access to 10 acres of grass. I would like to grow corn and dry it out to feed them, but the summers are to mild for it to dry out on the stalk here. So instead I would like to try growing peas and letting them dry on the plant then feed to the chickens all year long as the sole feed that I provide them. Keep in mind they'll also free range so they have access to grass, bugs, weeds, etc. Would me providing them peas only work as feed for them? Is it "nutritious" enough for them to keep on laying eggs? Thank you very much for the help.


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## parrotman (Jan 27, 2008)

I would say that the simple answer is yes, you could feed your chickens peas and they would live. Would they thrive and give you an abundance of eggs? Probably not.
With any living being be it animal or human, a variety of foods, vitamins and minerals contribute to a well rounded diet which in turn will keep your birds healthy and eggs will follow.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

My Dad grew Oats or Barley with peas or vetch. He ground this with a feed grinder and fed all his livestock this. Dairy cattle, horses, Beef cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and turkeys. He also fed minerals, natural minerals from limestone, bone meal and such. Worked well because the peas or vetch grow up on the oat or barley plants, made it much easier to harvest standing rather than down flat. It was a great feed....James


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## potatoguru (May 6, 2013)

So maybe I'll try growing peas to mix with the wheat I buy. Thank you for the responses.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

We grow a lot of field peas up here in Western Canada, some for human consumption, some for feed usage. I have fed chickens dry peas ground up, and while an excellent feed, our chickens did not find it palatable, until I mixed it with wheat, down to a fairly low ratio. I was probably at 20% peas, 70 wheat, 10 supplement. 

I never could get my hens to like the peas in higher ratios. They never took to them. Not saying yours will not, it just may be an issue you may have. I know they love moist garden peas a thousand times more. Peas are an excellent protein source for all kinds of animals. Hogs find them more palatable. 

Peas are very easy to grow.


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## Sumatra (Dec 5, 2013)

Grain legumes such as peas and beans contain trypsin inhibitors that not only reduce the bio-availability of protein in the feed, but can also damage the bird&#8217;s pancreas. You can destroy these inhibitors by keeping the grain at 80Â°F for at least 15 minutes, but honestly, there are much better ways to get healthy food for your chickens.


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## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

I have 6 layers that I keep at a friends house because I'm traveling too much right now to take proper care of them. They are a family of two and produce nearly enough kitchen scraps to keep them fed. The chix range from 2 until dark every day. His wife works at a nursing home and brings home surplus food once a week or so and that gets us to near zero purchased feed. 

I say that only so that you understand that you may not have to grow anything specifically for the hens. If you plant extra of stuff you want to eat and give the birds your surplus and culls, you probably can forget about bought feed. We keep scratch on hand because my friend enjoys the sport of having them run to him when he gets home from work. It is for fun, not because it is needed to keep them productive.


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## alsarve (Feb 20, 2013)

I was just contemplating the idea of growing and dehydrating some veggies for chickens to eat in the winter. Did not consider peas, but was thinking kale, carrots and their greens, maybe some others. Anyone have any luck w this? I only have 6 laying b.o.'s and a b.o. rooster. Just looking to supplement and cut down on bought feed. Thanks!


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## snowcap (Jul 1, 2011)

We buy whole green peas and grind them for our hens. they are 16 % protien. So we mix 1 pound each of wheat, peas, and corn.
We have to add a little soy to bring the protien up.
But they do ok on them. We plant them in the summer for fresh fodder. the peas don't have the trypsin inhibitors like beans do.
They sell mixes here with lentles, split peas and wheat. If they can feed that to birds I don't think your home grown peas would be a problem.
I bought a bag of live stock salt, I add a sprinkle now and then and all our scraps. I read your not supposed to feed cabbage but mine love it, as well as over grown cucumber.


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## wwubben (Oct 13, 2004)

Sumatra said:


> Grain legumes such as peas and beans contain trypsin inhibitors that not only reduce the bio-availability of protein in the feed, but can also damage the birdâs pancreas. You can destroy these inhibitors by keeping the grain at 80Â°F for at least 15 minutes, but honestly, there are much better ways to get healthy food for your chickens.


I raised wheat,barley,oats and Canadian field peas together.Field peas do not have to be heat treated like soybeans do for hogs.They are a good source of protein.I would listen to Farmerdale as I got the idea from a Canadian farmer.Replacing soybean meal with the ground peas saved me a lot on hog feed cost.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

You are correct, wwubben. Peas do not need cooking. Like I said, my only issue was the seemingly poor palatability. I would like to try again with different cultivars though. I only tried one of 40 or so... Up here, the hog guys use barley, wheat and peas in their feed blends.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

My birds get a mix of field peas and wheat as well as free range and table scraps. They seem to do very well on that. The egg laying really picked up when I added the peas. My birds really seem to like them, but I feed 2:1 wheat/peas just because the peas are soooo expensive right now. When they were cheaper I fed them 50/50 wheat/peas and never had an issue with the peas being left.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

I would grow a variety of squash, sunflower seed, what ever grain I could grow, along with the pea idea,


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## SJSFarm (Jun 13, 2012)

I found this recently - sorry if its been posted on another thread-

http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/m...2/07/eliminate-the-cost-of-chicken-feed/#2871


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