Black Oil Sunflower Seeds

[NessLand Eggs]

Good day!

I recently purchased whole grains and seeds to switch my chickens from a store bought layer feed. My chickens are digging through and throwing out ALL of the black oil sunflower seeds. Is this common? Is there any hope that they’ll start to eat them? I’m concerned not only because I’ve invested in the seeds but mostly because I don’t think they’re getting enough nutrients without the seeds. I’m open to suggestions!

 

[Brooks_]

I would be more concerned that they're not getting the right nutrition from not having a complete feed.

 

[Rangergord]

According to the feed nutrition tables sunflower seeds have a good protein content but they are very high in fat so if your chickens eat too many they could easily develop fatty liver disease. In addition they eat the seed hulls along with the seed. The hulls have a very high fibre content which is not desirable in a poultry ration.

Whole grains should be fed as scratch grain. Scratch grain is used to encourage foraging on fresh range or deep litter/compost. The grain is consumed along with insect life in the soil, litter or compost. My experience has been that my birds lay well under these conditions because the insects balance the amino acid profile of the grains. Without enough insects the whole grains are not a balanced replacement for layer ration.
It is unrealistic to expect that layer ration can be eliminated 100%. It is best approached by reducing ration gradually as you develop an understanding of poultry nutrition. This takes some reading and study into the subject. I feed ration free choice then reduce my pullets consumption of the feed by gathering grass and weeds and combine them with food scraps in a compost bin. The material is eaten fresh and the remainder rots and is decomposed by insects. The piles are turned weekly and the chickens eat the bugs. Other times I use a chicken tractor to free range my hens and they are able to forage for vegetation and bugs. You can expect to reduce feed consumption by 20 to 40 % while your birds still lay well and consume a moderate amount of layer ration.

Flock size is very important when you are trying to reduce feed consumption. One hen can consume up to 90 pounds of feed per year. A flock of 3 or 4 hens is very affordable to feed even at recent prices. With 4 or more hens I have enough extra eggs to sell some. So most of the time the people who buy my eggs pay my feed bill.

 

[NessLand Eggs]

I would be more concerned that they're not getting the right nutrition from not having a complete feed.

Agreed!

 

[NessLand Eggs]

According to the feed nutrition tables sunflower seeds have a good protein content but they are very high in fat so if your chickens eat too many they could easily develop fatty liver disease. In addition they eat the seed hulls along with the seed. The hulls have a very high fibre content which is not desirable in a poultry ration.

Whole grains should be fed as scratch grain. Scratch grain is used to encourage foraging on fresh range or deep litter/compost. The grain is consumed along with insect life in the soil, litter or compost. My experience has been that my birds lay well under these conditions because the insects balance the amino acid profile of the grains. Without enough insects the whole grains are not a balanced replacement for layer ration.
It is unrealistic to expect that layer ration can eliminated 100%. It is best approached by reducing ration gradually as you develop an understanding of poultry nutrition. This takes some reading and study into the subject. I feed ration free choice then reduce my pullets consumption of the feed by gathering grass and weeds and combine them with food scraps in a compost bin. The material is eaten fresh and the remainder rots and is decomposed by insects. The piles are turned weekly and the chickens eat the bugs. Other times I use a chicken tractor to free range my hens and they are able to forage for vegetation and bugs. You can expect to reduce feed consumption by 20 to 40 % while your birds still lay well and still consume a moderate amount of layer ration.

Flock size is very important when you are trying to reduce feed consumption. One hen can consume up to 90 pounds of feed per year. A flock of 3 or 4 hens is very affordable to feed even at recent prices. With 4 or more hens I have enough extra eggs to sell some. So most of the time the people who buy my eggs pay my feed bill.

Thanks for the info.

 

[travelbug007]

Chickens, like humans don't get fatty liver (or just fat) from eating fat. They get fatty liver from eating carbohydrates, like too much corn, or other starchy or sugary foods. Insulin helps cells absorb carbs which then metabolize into fat in the cells and including in organs like the liver. Fat doesn't get stored in cells, it gets burned. Carbs (sugars) get pushed into cells by insulin, and get converted into fat inside the cell...hope this helps.

 

[NessLand Eggs]

Thanks for the info.

Great information - I’ve since been using the layer feed as there main source of nutrition and using the whole grain mixture as a treat. They really like it but still don’t consume the BOSS.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

How long have they been exposed to the BOSS? Might just take the flock a few times to get used to them and realize they’re food.

Whole grains are a nice scratch as I’ve found if you have some kind of “mulch” in your run, any seeds the birds miss may sprout, which becomes another treat.