Feeding BOSS... and a rice question

[BlackBart]

Quote:
Broccoli doesn't taint the eggs at all in my opinion. Did I read this correctly? Or maybe because I eat broccoli a lot I wouldn't notice?

I cut back on the BOSS during the summer because they don't need the extra fat (even though it is "good" fat). I give extra greens as treats in the summer.

This is how the story goes, Cooked Broccoli tainted the eggs according to the man in the house, I didn't notice because I practically live on broccoli. So I wonder then how could I tell if he was right? or just fussy?

A friend gave her chickens sword fern leaves and she said the eggs tasted like ferns..........hhmm

 

[Chris09]

Here is some information on Rice and Sunflower Seed.
information from the book Poultry Feeds and Feeding.

Rice -

• The ordinary commercial rice has been
husked and polished, and nearly all the protein has been
removed in these processes ; it cannot therefore rank
as a desirable poultry food. The protein content is
very low, and the fat is also deficient, but the starch
content is high. In mineral salts the deficiency is very
great. Rice is frequently recommended as a poultry food,
especially " if cheap, such as sweepings." The best
rice is but a poor food for poultry, therefore cheap,
damaged, or generally inferior rice is still less desirable.
Good rice boiled in milk makes an excellent fattening
food, for use when '' topping " chickens and ducklings
it imparts a delicate texture and white tint to the flesh.
A little, if cheap, may be used, but it must be of good
quality. A few grains, cracked, may be included in
chicken mixtures.

Sunflower seed -

• Sunflower seed is 14% of protein, 32% of oil,
3 1/2% of mineral salts, but also 28 to 30% of crude
indigestible fibre.
This attractive analysis has misled many persons.
One has heard of the enthusiast who planted acres of
sunflowers to produce the sole food of his poultry. Sunflower
seed is concentrated, and too rich for general
use—moderation is plainly indicated. Poultry are
ravenously partial to it, and will often overeat themselves.
Our friend the sparrow revels in sunflower seed
and diminishes the crop in an almost incredible manner.
Sunflower seed can often be obtained at fair prices,
and may be used with advantage, especially during the
moulting period and in cold weather. A supply may be
grown by planting a double row outside the runs. It
thus affords shade from the sun, shelter from wind, and
supplies a lot of valuable food.

Chris

 

[Arcane Araucana]

Quote:
Ha ha, it is! and I've got you beat. It's 117 in the shade on my back porch right now! My birds don't like broccoli - they toss it out. I buy high quality song bird seed when its on sale and toss it out for scratch. The ants love it. But even the ants give up harvesting by 10 am.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chris, you need to publish a bibilography of your sources--and it needs to be a sticky

Got a question about sunflower seeds. The black oil ones are the less expensive of the two types I have seen for birds. The striped ones cost a good bit more. So are they more nutritious in some way? No one ever talks about feeding them to their birds, but...

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Black oil sunflower seed is said to be the best all round seed because of the high meat to shell ratio, it's high in fat and the small size and thin shell make it easy for the small bird to handle. Black oil sunflower is 70% meat where as striped sunflower seeds are 57% meat have larger shells and thicker coats.

From what I have found on the net Black oil sunflower seed is higher in oil content where as the striped (or"stripers") are a little higher in protein but has less oil content.

Then you have Sunflower Seed Meal that is the by-product of the oil extraction process. Oil is the majority value of sunflower seed and meal is considered a by-product. Sunflower meal is an excellent livestock feed, especially for ruminants. For the last several years, the supply of U.S. sunflower meal has been somewhat inconsistent. That is changing as the domestic market for sunflower oil increases.

Item Sunflower/Meal Soybean Canola Cottonseed
Crude Protein 32%------47%----------36%---------41%
Fat 1%-------1.5%----------3.5%------1.50%
Fiber 21%------3.1%---------12%--------11.0%
Ash 6%-------6.4%----------6.8%-------6.30%
Lysine 1.14%----2.99%-------1.93%------1.72%
Arginine 2.46%-----3.4%--------2.21%------4.55%
Cystine 0.55%-----0.73%-------0.89%------0.70%
Valine 1.75%-----2.26%-------1.91%------1.78%
Isoleucine 1.38%-----2.10%-------1.41%------1.23%
Methionine 0.68%----0.68%-------0.73%-------0.67%
Threonine 1.13%-----1.85%-------1.54%------1.36%
Tryptophan 0.35%-----0.65%------0.48%-------0.48%

Chris

 

[newTexan2chickens]

Thanks for all the info.... I just had a chance to check back in. I give them a couple of handfuls of BOSS in the evenings. I was wondering about the rice because I had some leftover from dinner.... tho the dogs are getting pretty pissy about all the scraps going to the chicks! LOL

 

[B'villechicken]

Quote:
BOSS is a great treat for hens, I prefer to use these sort of items ( like scratch grains) as treats only as I feel the layer feed has most all of what they need. Granted, BOSS has more oil & protein than scratch.

BTW: I like the comment about the dogs!

David

 

[Jeeper1540]

can ducks eat BOSS? i tried Cracked Corn, but they dont seem to hot on it, so i was thinking of trying something else

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
My two Cayugas love BOSS. They REALLY love it when they are in their pool, and I hold out my hands with BOSS in the palms, right at water level. They bill the BOSS from my hands and then gobble up the ones floating in the water.

 

[Jeeper1540]

Thanks gryeyes!