Chia seeds ok?

[Mekare]

I have read some controversy about feeding chickens. What about chia? It has Omega 3, Omega 6 and protein. Anyone have experience with it or know anything about it?

 

[paneubert]

What I'm wondering about is sprouting the chia seeds, ya know, fodder. Remember the chia pets? They do make that grass which I would think would be great nutritionally.

I sprouted some for my quail. I did it on paper towels that were on a cookie sheet, so when I gave it to them it unfortunately dried out/wilted in the heat pretty fast due to not having soil. But they liked it. Nobody died

 

[SavageDestiny]

I fed my chicks chia seeds one time and my mom stopped by and said that chia seeds swell like rice does. I don't feed it to them anymore for the same reason people don't throw rice at weddings, the birds eat it and can die from it. They can't burp. Just my uneducated guess. Lol

Chia doesn't really swell, it just gets a goopy, gelatinous texture around the seed. Not harmful at all. My girls eat it as part of their regular feed mix.

 

[lwiese58]

What I'm wondering about is sprouting the chia seeds, ya know, fodder. Remember the chia pets? They do make that grass which I would think would be great nutritionally.

 

[mosse71]

i fed dry chia from day 1 to my 35 bird flock. the chicks , ducks and geese loved it. i only fed it as a supplement until they hit 2 months. they grew noticeably bigger than birds in the past , i didn't give some to. i also harvest dandelion greens for my birds all summer . they love it and they have real shiny feathers and look super healthy. dandelions are more nutritions than kale. my 93 yr. old grandmother harvested and ate dandelions in early spring before they flowered. probably why she's still around.

 

[Mekare]

Do any of the night time people know?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA365093/Chia-for-Health.html?print=1

I found this but have no experience with them.

 

[Mekare]

What a great article. Thank you so much for sharing that.

 

[1cityslicker]

I've been feeding my chickens Chia for a few months now. I mix it in with their normal feed.

 

[Mekare]

Thanks! How much are you mixing in? How old are your chickens? Are you mixing it in dry or gelled? Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to the chicken life.