Two research trials funded by Pulse Canada and completed this year in the growing Indo-Pacific region point to real opportunity — one in egg-laying hens, the other in shrimp farming. Both found that Canadian peas held their own against the ingredients they replaced and even provided some additional benefits.
For Canadian pulse growers, every new use for peas in animal feed is another source of demand for what they grow. Two research trials funded by Pulse Canada and completed this year in the growing Indo-Pacific region point to real opportunity — one in egg-laying hens, the other in shrimp farming. Both found that Canadian peas held their own against the ingredients they replaced and even provided some additional benefits.
Peas Improve Egg Quality and Immune Health
At Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, researchers fed egg-laying hens diets containing Canadian yellow peas in place of corn and soybean meal, at levels up to nearly a quarter of the total feed, over a 12-week trial. The hens laid just as many eggs, ate just as much, and gained weight normally, even at the highest rate of pea inclusio. In other words, peas can replace up to 24 percent of a hen's regular diet with no drop in performance.
The results got more interesting from there. Hens on the highest-pea diet laid eggs with noticeably heavier yolks, and blood tests showed fewer signs of inflammation and stress in those birds — a sign the diet may actually be easier on the hens, not just neutral. The benefits also grew stronger as the hens aged, suggesting peas could be especially useful later in a flock's laying cycle, when performance normally starts to slip.
"What this tells growers is that peas aren’t just a filler ingredient in poultry feed — they can genuinely improve outcomes for the bird and the egg,” said Denis Tremorin, Director of Feed at Pulse Canada. “That’s a stronger case to bring to poultry nutritionists here in Canada and in export markets.”
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