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Can Peacocks Eat Peas and Beans?

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Do you love peas? What about beans? Peas and beans are legumes and are staple foods in countries around the world, and both people and animals love them. What about birds? Do peacocks love peas and beans?

If so, can peacocks eat peas and beans?

Peacocks can eat peas and beans as these seeds are delicious and packed with nutrients for them.

You can give as many peas and beans as you like to your mature peacocks, but only give peas and beans as treats to your baby peacocks.

How do you feed peacocks peas and beans? What other foods can peacocks eat? Continue reading.

Beautiful-male-peacock-closeup-portrait

Can Peacocks Eat Peas and Beans?

Peacocks love peas and beans a lot. Cooked beans are the favorite snack of peacocks as they are soft and sweet. While peacocks can eat peas raw, they can also eat peas mixed with other ingredients, such as in salads or soups.

Are peas and beans the same? Peas and beans are both legumes, and they are similar, but they are not the same.

Peacocks can eat raw peas but cannot eat raw beans, so you want to make sure that the bean seeds are properly boiled before you give them to your peacocks.

Why should you give peas and beans to peacocks?

Why You Should Give Your Peacocks Peas and Beans

Here are some reasons why you should give peas and beans to your peacocks:

  • Peacocks love peas and beans: If you want to see how excited peacocks can be, give them some cooked beans. They love beans and peas a lot.
  • Peas and beans nutritional composition: Peas and beans are seeds known for their protein content. Even though they cannot satisfy peacocks’ protein needs, they are better than many other types of treats.
  • To prevent food waste: If you have peacocks, you do not have to waste your pea or bean leftovers. Just feed them to your peacocks.

Should you always feed your peacocks peas and beans? Let us first examine the nutritional composition of both seeds.

Pea and Bean Nutritional Compositions

The table below shows the nutritional composition of 100 grams of peas. Note that the daily value of each nutrient is represented as a percentage.

NutrientComposition (percent of daily value)
Protein10%
Carbohydrates4%
Fats<1%
Vitamins>50%
Minerals>20%

(Source)

The table below shows the nutritional composition of 100 grams of cooked beans:

NutrientComposition (percent of daily value)
Protein16%
Carbohydrates7%
Fats<1%
Vitamins<10%
Minerals>25%

(Source)

As you can see from both tables, peas and beans are nutritious and will give a good amount of proteins to your peacocks. Well, you should note that peacocks need 25%-30% proteins in their diet (every 100 grams), so peas and beans alone cannot satisfy your peacock protein requirements.

If peas and beans cannot satisfy peacock requirements, how do you give them to your peacocks? Continue reading.

woman feeding a peacock

How to Feed Peas and Beans to Peacocks

Here are some ways to feed peacocks peas and beans:

  • As treats: Give the legumes to your peacocks as treats but not as regular meals. Peacocks love them, so consider using them to train the birds.
  • You can feed raw peas to peacocks: Note that peacocks can eat raw peas such as green peas. You do not need to boil them for your peacocks.
  • Only feed peacocks boiled beans: As for beans, the seeds are usually hard and contain some anti-nutrients. For the safety of your peacocks, only feed them cooked beans.
  • Give kitchen scraps made of peas or beans to peacocks: If you have food scraps with peas and beans in them, you can give them to your peacocks. Just make sure that there are no harmful ingredients in them.
  • Do not feed your peacocks moldy peas and beans: Even though peacocks can eat kitchen scraps, you should not give them food items that have started to decay. Only feed your peacocks fresh foods so that they do not eat pathogens.
  • Feed your peacocks a seed mix: If you have other seeds or grains such as wheat, barley, and maize, you can mix peas or cooked beans with them to feed your peacocks.

Now you know how to give your peacocks some peas and beans. Asides from these legumes, what else do peacocks eat? Continue reading.

What Should You Feed Peacocks?

Here are some popular food items you can feed your peacocks.

1. Peacock Pellets

man holding dry food pellets

Are you looking for a peacock feed that contains as much protein as what the birds really need? The answer is peacock pellets or formulated feed.

Formulated feed is usually made of several ingredients (both plant and animal-based) to give your peacocks exactly what they need in terms of nutrition.

Unless you are sure of what you are doing, you should only feed your peacocks formulated feed (i.e., as regular feed, but you can still give them treats).

Make sure you properly plan your peacocks’ nutrition before you give them other types of feed regularly. Your peacocks will grow quickly and in good health if you give them formulated feed.

2. Seeds and Grains

sunflower seeds up close

Peas and beans are leguminous seeds, but there are other types of seeds. Other types of protein-rich seeds that you can feed your peacocks are the seeds of sunflowers, papaya, pumpkins, watermelons, etc. You can also feed your peacocks grains.

Grains are usually cereal seeds, and they are the major ingredients in most animal feeds, including the feed of peacocks. Examples of grains that you can feed your peacocks are barley, millet, rye, wheat, etc.

You should give grains to your peacocks as treats and not as regular feed, as they are not very rich in proteins. Also, make sure that your peacocks have grit while eating grains.

3. Insect Larvae

meal worm

Most birds prefer insect larvae to other types of feed. Insect larvae have a lot of advantages. For example, they are packed with proteins and can meet the protein requirement of peacocks.

The main con of insect larvae is that they can be quite expensive to buy or culture if you plan to feed your peacocks with them regularly.

You can give as many insect larvae as you can to your peacocks. Some popular insect larvae that peacocks can eat are black soldier fly larvae, mealworm larvae, housefly larvae, etc. Peacocks can also eat insects such as grasshoppers, termites, and praying mantises.

4. Vegetables and Fruits

Watermelon, orange, pineapple, kiwi cut into slices with apples and broccoli on a wooden plate.

Peacocks do love their fruits and vegetables.

Peacocks love to eat bananas, berries, apples, watermelons, cucumbers, and other types of fruits. Peacocks also love vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, cabbages, and others. You should give fruits and vegetables to your peacocks as treats and not as regular meals.

If you have vegetables such as cabbages, you can hang them on a tree branch or the roof of the peacock coop to form a green piñata.

Whenever your peacocks are bored or need extra nutrients, they just have to jump and peck on the green piñata. Fun, right? Just make sure that you change the vegetables daily to avoid the risk of your peacocks eating moldy foods.

5. Whatever They Can Find

colorful peacock bird

It is a great idea to let your peacocks forage for some food. This can help them to become hardy (as they get to eat more natural foods), and they can also help to prevent some pests such as nematodes and insects from pestering your home. You should raise your peacocks in a yard with a lot of space.

When foraging, peacocks can find live foods such as earthworms, nematodes, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and spiders. Please note that you should always provide your peacocks with extra feed even if you’re raising them free-range.

Also, ensure that the birds always have access to clean water. You can keep some water troughs in different parts of your yard for the peacocks.

Final Thoughts

Peacocks can eat peas and beans. You can use peas and beans to train your peacocks because they love the legumes so much, so ensure that you only give them peas and beans as treats. Always remember that the best type of feed for peacocks is formulated feed because it contains as many nutrients as your peacocks need.

Sources

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