Is Bird seed safe for chickens?

[Alex S]

I have a feeder on my deck and it sometimes spills bird seed below. My chickens will devour it! I was just checking that it is safe for them and that they can eat it like treats.
The ingredients are:
Millet
Sunflower
Peanuts

Thanks,
Alex

 

[3KillerBs]

It's safe, but not very nutritious -- consider it very expensive scratch.

 

[cherrynberry]

I have a feeder on my deck and it sometimes spills bird seed below. My chickens will devour it! I was just checking that it is safe for them and that they can eat it like treats.
The ingredients are:
Millet
Sunflower
Peanuts

Thanks,
Alex

Wild birds can spread diseases to chickens. I do not recommend attracting wild birds to an area that your chickens have access to. Bird seed is edible to chickens though.

 

[Alex S]

Wild birds can spread diseases to chickens. I do not recommend attracting wild birds to an area that your chickens have access to. Bird seed is edible to chickens though.

Bird seed or not, we live right next to a forested area so there are always birds and rabbits in our backyard

 

[cherrynberry]

Bird seed or not, we live right next to a forested area so there are always birds and rabbits in our backyard

Same, but if I were to set up a feeder at all, it would be AWAY from my chickens.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Good advice above. Bird seed is a high fat, low protein source. Consider it "treat", not to exceed 10% of the daily diet by weight. Better it be positioned as far from the chicken's run/range as possible.

Yes, free range chickens are going to get exposed - its like going to the hospital. But when you are going to the hospital for routine scope or a chest x-ray, you don't hang out in the Covid wing and eat from the collective popcorn bowl - your chickens shouldn't either.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and, analogy aside, millet and boss are similar price. Peanuts, lucky for you, are about 4x more expensive, pound per pound. So your typical bag of bird seed is going to be about 3 parts red millet, 3 parts white (proso) millet, 3 parts boss, and 1 part peanuts.

Why is that lucky? Because the amino acid profile of peanuts is HIGHLY variable, like more than +/- 12%, based on location grown - but peanuts are typically low in lysine, tryptophan, methionine, and threonine - the four most common limitting acids in poultry feed.

Assuming the 3/3/3/1 ratio is correct, that bag of birdseed is about 14.5% protein (16%+ is the desire), 9.5% fiber (3-4% is the typically desired range), 21.4% fat (again, 3-4% is the normally desired range). It just scrapes the bottom of the acceptable methionine range (courtsey the white millet and boss), has less than half the desired lysine amount, only 60% of the minimum threonine, and misses on tryptophan, too!

But yes, they can eat it. Its about as nuitritional as a doritos locos taco with extra sour cream, hold the "beef".