Black Oil Sunflower Seeds affecting laying question?

[nao57]

So if I fed my flock only BOSS sprouts, is that going to reduce my egg production?

Or will it only lower it, if the sprouts are the only thing they eat, plus yard forage?

But if I had a 30% grain, would I be able to get around that?

I wish I could formulate this right and I'm not even sure how to word it.

I want to see if I can do at least half black oil sunflower seed sprouts but some grain and still get egg production without losing too much of it.

How could I do this? What would you to achieve it?

The birds in the wild still lay eggs but don't get farm fresh grains. So there must be some way of getting the right mix.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

100% of any one thing will probably be tough...some micro or macro nutrients are sure to be missing.

if you can figure out what the nutritional makeup of the sprouts are ( % protein, vitamins, etc) you could probably compensate by supplementing those nutrients.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Where are you located? Is there a reason you can't acquire a nutritionally balanced chicken feed?
No matter what mix of grains, sunflower seeds (whether sprouted or not) will be close to meeting their nutrient requirements. Doing so, eventually, you'll get no eggs at all.

BOSS does have high crude protein but is still deficient in some essential amino acids. But it is too high in fiber. The protein is used up processing the fiber.
The amino acids missing are the same ones deficient in grain.

 

[ChicMomof10]

So if I fed my flock only BOSS sprouts, is that going to reduce my egg production?

Or will it only lower it, if the sprouts are the only thing they eat, plus yard forage?

But if I had a 30% grain, would I be able to get around that?

I wish I could formulate this right and I'm not even sure how to word it.

I want to see if I can do at least half black oil sunflower seed sprouts but some grain and still get egg production without losing too much of it.

How could I do this? What would you to achieve it?

The birds in the wild still lay eggs but don't get farm fresh grains. So there must be some way of getting the right mix.

What about adding flax seeds? High in amino acids.

 

[Shadrach]

If you are on this forum asking how to feed your chickens without resorting to a balanced commercial feed then you do not know enough about the subject not to be endangering your chickens health.
It's about having the right combination of amino acids and the enzymes to digest them. It's a fairly complicated science. If your chickens free range and the forage is adequate to good then feeding of a commercial feed is less important, BUT, most people who free range still provide a commercial feed at least once a day to ensure proper nutrition.
One also needs to consider the breed of chicken you are trying to feed. If you are say feeding a flock of Fayoumies and you have adequate forage then they will probably thrive. If on the other hand you have a flock of hatchery high egg producing dual purpose breeds, then balanced nutrition becomes vital.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Feeding just a small variety of foods will assuredly be lacking.

Chickens are omnivorous. There is a reason for that. It is because they REQUIRE a wide variety of nutrients to be healthy and those nutrients are not available in a single or small grouping of things.

While forage CAN supplement their needs it certainly in most cases cannot replace a balanced ration. Every area/region will have different things available to forage on. Urban/suburban yards have very little to offer a foraging bird. Then factor in seasons/weather there is pretty much zero to forage on in a cold snowy winter.

Balanced chicken/duck food is actually very inexpensive. Please provide what decades of science went into making.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What about adding flax seeds? High in amino acids.

Flax seed is about 18% crude protein which may sound good but it has almost no lysine and that is one of the limiting amino acids in grains and soy which is why it always has to be added in synthetic form in feeds that don't have animal protein in them.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Feeding chickens JUST commercial feed is certainly the EASIEST way to go, and one of the less expensive and less labor intensive.

That doesn’t make it the ONLY way or even the BEST in all situations.

If a person can figure out how to feed themselves a balanced diet, one has to assume they could do the same for chickens with a little research.

Chicken feed science isn’t rocket science...the feed companies would just prefer you think it is.

 

[1muttsfan]

No, but it requires careful calculation and knowledge about the ingredients. You could probably find the nutritional breakdown of most online, then use a basic feed calculation to ensure you are providing adequate amounts of proteins, carbs, fats, and micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. That is certainly going to take at least basic nutrition study and likely an investment in time.

I agree that limiting their food to one item is likely to cause issues, especially in growing or laying birds.

 

[21hens-incharge]

No, but it requires careful calculation and knowledge about the ingredients. You could probably find the nutritional breakdown of most online, then use a basic feed calculation to ensure you are providing adequate amounts of proteins, carbs, fats, and micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. That is certainly going to take at least basic nutrition study and likely an investment in time.

I agree that limiting their food to one item is likely to cause issues, especially in growing or laying birds.

Can I add to that?

After ALL the research into nutritional needs there comes obtaining, storing and mixing in proper proportions.
A thing to take into consideration is shelf life of each and every ingredient as well.

Feeding chickens JUST commercial feed is certainly the EASIEST way to go, and one of the less expensive and less labor intensive.

That doesn’t make it the ONLY way or even the BEST in all situations.

If a person can figure out how to feed themselves a balanced diet, one has to assume they could do the same for chickens with a little research.

Chicken feed science isn’t rocket science...the feed companies would just prefer you think it is.

No, not rocket science but more complicated/involved/difficult than just throwing a hand full of this and a hand full of that together and calling it good.