Field pea can be used as an alternative starch and protein source for swine. Scientists from Canada and Germany conducted a study to investigate the growth performance of weaned pigs fed processed field pea.
From the study it appears that weaned pigs fed 400g field pea/kg diet in substitution of soybean meal (SBM) could maintain growth performance.
The field pea was processed in different ways to explore the effect of processing. Photo: Michel Zoeter
Different ways of processing field peas
The field pea was processed in different ways to explore the effect of processing. Field peas were ground (4.0-mm sieve), then either cold-pelleted (70–75 °C), steam-pelleted (80–85 °C) or extruded (115 °C) and then re-ground (3.2-mm sieve).
In the study 236 pigs (weaned at 20 days of age) were housed in 60 pens in 4 rooms and fed 1 of 5 diets starting 2 weeks post-weaning [initial body weight (BW): 10 kg] for 3 weeks. The 5 different diets included 400g per kg raw, cold-pelleted, steam-pelleted or extruded field pea replacing 300 g soybean meal (SBM) and 100 g wheat grain and were formulated to provide 10.0 MJ net energy (NE)/kg and 12.1 g standardised ileal digestible lysine/kg.
Results of feeding processed field pea
- The apparent total tract digestibility coefficient (CATTD) of gross energy and crude protein, digestible energy and predicted NE value were lower (P < 0.001) in field pea diets than in SBM diets and were not affected by processing of field pea.
- Overall (day 1–21), average daily feed intake of pigs fed raw or processed field pea diets (853–882 g/day) was greater (P = 0.001) than pigs fed SBM diet (813 g/day). Greater average daily feed intake for field pea diets than SBM diet indicated that pigs compensated for the reduced energy value of field pea diets.
- Average daily gain did not differ between SBM diet and field pea diets, nor did it differ among field pea treatments.
- Feed efficiency was lower (P < 0.001) for pigs fed field pea diets (0.60–0.63) than for pigs fed SBM diet (0.68), but did not differ among field pea treatments.
- BW of pigs fed raw, cold-pelleted, steam-pelleted, extruded field pea and SBM diets were 21.0, 21.1, 21.3, 21.4 and 21.7 kg respectively. Final BW was not affected (P > 0.05) by feeding or processing of field pea.
This study was published in the Journal of Animal Feed Science and Technology