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Chickpea, or garbanzo bean, is perfectly safe, and your ducks can eat this high in protein legume. Also, vitamins B6, B1, and folate will only make your duck healthier.
You should also know that this legume contains anti-nutritional factors that can negatively affect nutrient absorption from the duck’s digestive tract.
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So you need to know chickpeas can replace only 15-20% of duck’s diet.
What Are Chickpeas?
Chickpea is a legume rich in protein that will help your duck’s development.
It will undoubtedly support your duck’s growth and egg production. This legume is widely used in humus in Mediterranean cuisines.
In 100gr of raw chickpeas, there is:
- 6gr fat
- 10.7 gr of sugars
- 12.2 gr of dietary fiber
And speaking of vitamins, chickpea is rich in vitamins B1, B5, B6, B9 (folate), and more.
And thanks to healthy minerals (Copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc), your ducks will get even more health advantages from this legume.
Difference Between Chickpeas and Green Peas
Chickpeas are similar to green peas, but this legume has a higher fat content.
People are constantly comparing chickpeas with green peas, but there are significant differences. When it comes to niacin, a raw pea is winning the race.
Chickpeas have 1.54 mg B3 vitamin (niacin) compared to 2.09 mg your ducks get from raw green peas.
All the numbers are not essential to remember; only understand that even if this legume has a positive effect on ducks, in case you feed them too much, it can be counterproductive.
Health Benefits of Chickpeas for Your Ducks
Chickpea is considered an alternative feed ingredient in the poultry industry.
But it is not perfect. Chickpea contains trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors (anti-nutritional factors), meaning nutrient absorption from the duck’s digestive tract is quite reduced.
Keep in mind not to give too many chickpeas to your ducks.
How Much Chickpeas My Ducks Can Eat
Don’t forget that you can’t replace specially formulated duck feed.
Feeding them chickpeas too much can lead to an increased weight of some digestive organs (like the pancreas).
You want to limit it to between 15% and 20% of the daily diet of your ducks, to be sure. You should not solely rely on this, and even you should not give your duck chickpeas daily.
It’s like with the fruit. Yes, your ducks can eat, for example, strawberries, but giving them 2-3 strawberries every day is not good for them.
Your ducks should eat duck feed pellets that will meet the niacin requirements of growing ducks and, of course, of your laying ducks as well.
Everything else should be considered a treat.
How to Feed Chickpeas to Ducks
We advise you to cook chickpeas before serving.
Earlier mentioned, anti-nutritional factors present in chickpeas can be removed if you apply heat treatment.
Your ducks can also eat it raw, but if you don’t want to risk anything, cook them first.
As mentioned above, this legume should contain more than 20% of your duck’s diet.
Final Words
Feeding your ducks up to 20% of their daily intake will help them grow and produce healthier eggs.
Keep in mind that chickpeas are higher in fat than raw green peas, and consider reducing the impact of anti-nutritional factors by heat treatment.