chickpeas

[joe]

we helped the neighbor clean out an old shed she was going to tear down, and she had a bag of chickpeas she purchased last year and never planted. the Mrs. brought the #50 bag home, with the intentions of me planting it in a 5 acre yard we have. the big question is how? do the cows eat the whole plant? Or am I further ahead by letting the cows eat the #50 bag of peas and not bother planting them? I am assuming they grow somewhat like a soybean plant? Thanks for any advice or opinions.

 

[randiliana]

Cows will eat the whole plant. We have never actually fed chickpea plants to our cows but I know of several people who have baled it and fed it that way with no trouble.

Just as an added note, we fed our cows split chickpeas for about 2 months before they calved (got them cheap from a seed plant since they can't sell the split ones to the foreign markets) and we had some of the hugest calves we have ever had. We think it was due to the extra protien in the chickpeas. Just thought I would mention that.