Free Choice Sunflower Seeds?

[FractalFarmer]

I know that mine would eat the sunflower seeds instead of their feed, so free choice may not be a good choice. They are high in protein though, so it's not really like "ice cream".

Jay, I think the chickens would be fine with picking the seeds off the head of sunflowers you grow. All the other birds do on mine, anyway, and that's what I was planning to do for the chickens this year.

Bonus question: Anybody know whether the black oil sunflower seeds are fertile? Or have they been roasted? I would love to be able to plant them from those 25lb bags of seeds because the little burpee packets are very expensive by weight, and I plan to grow a bunch this year! Maybe I'll try to sprout a few to check.

 

[Jay13]

Oooh I want to know if they are fertile too... let me check my bag and see if it says anything on them about roasting. I have a science experiment going on in my kitchen window now to see if I can get some of them to sprout or not.

Jay

edited to add: I couldn't find where it said roasted or anything on the bag, so hopefully, if i plant enough of them I will get some to grow how is it the saying goes? "One for the cutworm, one for the crow, one to rot, and one to grow".

 

[enola]

they should sprout, I feed them to my horses and LOTS of them sprouted in the pasture

but the drought took care of THAT

 

[Dixiedoodle]

For yrs we have planted the Black Oil Sunflower seeds that are meant for bird feeding and we have huge fields of them.. Never had a 'crop failure'.. They all seem to sprout..Dixie

 

[nicelittlehens]

If you want to feed your birds a higher protein seed supplement, than give them pumpkin seeds. They are three times the protein value than sunflower seeds. , However, I can’t find a feed store that sells them, so I grow my own and feed it to them as a treat and I have never had a feather picking problem.

 

[Akane]

Black oil sunflower seeds will sprout. I feed them to the horses in the winter. Come spring the odd sunflower pops up where they've pooped and all over the manure pile from spilled seeds being removed with the bedding.

Actually everything I find says BOSS has more protein than pumpkin seeds. The usda nutrient database says 24.54g of protein per 100grams of dried pumpkin seed while horse nutrition sites say 22-24 for BOSS. Keep in mind being dried is more concentrated than with water. If you want the whole breakdown search for pumpkin seeds (or whatever else you want that is eaten by humans) on here http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/. Here are 2 sites for BOSS. One in pounds and one by 100grams

http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html

http://www.wellbalancedhorse.com/?p=5

Also found this site for pumpkin seeds:
http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/generic/pumpkin-seeds

It's hard to compare how much a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds is but it says 17% protein while BOSS is 22%.

 

[Superior Chicks]

Although pumpkin seeds are higher in protein and have the additional value of being a natural wormer, BOSS have a special "something" (please forgive me I can't recall the technical term) in the actual shell that is good for the growth and health of a birds feathers.

It is the oil found only in the shells, that's why its good always to feed the whole sunflower seed, not just the meats.

I give both pumpkin seeds and BOSS, mixed with their regular scratch everyday.

As already mentioned, if you put it out as free choice it would be gone in an instant in my flock! They love it!

My humble 2 cents,

Ma

 

[Jay13]

But is there a difference betwen regular sunflower seeds such as those sold at the garden center in little packets, and BOSS? Nutritionally speaking for the chickens? I am trying to make sure I have a back up plan incase I Can't get any of the ones I have to sprout...

 

[Jillylam]

I grow sunflowers every year for us and the chickens. When they are ready to harvest I cut the heads off leaving part of the stem on. Then I poke the stem through their run fence and tie it. They pick the seeds right out of it. Between my 6 chickens, one head only lasts a little while. I also keep and dry seeds from each harvest for the following year. I purchased my original seeds from Burpee and I haven't bought any more in the following years. I am buying some new ones this year just to try other types.

Edited to add: my girls don't like pumpkin seeds. I bought some raw ones at Shop-Rite in the bins thinking they would love them and they picked everything else out but them.

 

[Ms Ellen]

For a source for pumpkin seeds try
http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_res...tFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=1624

Bulk food also has other interesting foods so look around. Of course I don't think anyone needs 25 pounds but who knows? I have tried these personally and they are good quality. We use them for other animals.

For picking, if chickens are like other animals, the key is to give them something else to do. So hiding sunflower seeds in the litter would be good because it would take them longer to find them. So would hanging the whole sunflower head where it was hard to get to so they had to jump up to pick out the seeds. Just do anything that takes them a bit longer to find the seeds. So it is like foraging they would do outside for bugs.