Feeding whole sunflower seeds to poultry flock

[Nyssa03]

We have an abundance of sunflower seed heads and were thinking of feeding them to our flock - ducks and geese. Does anyone have any experience with this?
thanks, Patsy

 

[honeyb]

me and my sister chicken love them. i give them the h whole plant roots and all.

 

[foulplay]

do you dry them?

 

[honeyb]

i guess you can but i never have they love them

 

[jak2002003]

Yep, they can eat the seed no problem.

My ducks like them, but my chickens don't care for them much.

Shell and inside all will get ground up in the birds gizzard.

 

[centrarchid]

During winter months sunflower seeds repressent between 5 and 10% by volume of what my confined birds get. Free-range birds able to get at volunteer heads in feild occassionally eat more. The birds seem to prefer sunflower seeds over most other components of diet. A flock I keep for observations roosting on front porch produces more manageable feces when they eat more sunflower seeds. Benefits with respect to feces I think come from fiberous hulls

 

[foulplay]

i guess you can but i never have they love them

Sorry what i meant is do you leave them on the stalk or do you cut them when they are green and hang them up and let the chickens pick at them

 

[Den in Penn]

I would leave them in the head and hang one up and let them do the work of picking them out. If you leave them out in the field the wild birds will love them. So if you want them and have a place to store the heads, cut the head and store. Preferably hang them so they don't mold.

 

[omaeve]

my aunt hangs them under the edge of shelter so rain does not mold them as they dry...I am thinking of planting strawberries and sunflower and kale all around the edge of the run next spring.

 

[angelchix]

I have given sunflower seeds to my chickens over the winter. I think they are a good protien source when they cant get to the bugs during those winter months. They eat them whole. I even give them salflower seeds as well, we all hear that the oil in those seeds is good.