Locating BOSS that won't break the bank

[7961]

@ TSC Tuesday they had BOSS for $19.99 50lbs

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
i'm curious also if others feed it with or without the shell. i've been buying the hulled kernels, medium chip size. You don't even want to know what i pay for a 50# bag.

IN shell.... I feed it to my horse as well OMG its like horse Gives their coat a glossy shine.

By the way Do not buy Wild bird seed BOSS unless you read the lable very closely to make sure there is no feed through insecticide in it. I was buying mine at Wal mart for rediculously cheap prices till I found out. Caused my horse all sorts of grief. I had to feed her Probiotics for a couple of weeks.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
7961 OMG where did you get your Avatar.....

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I feed with the shell. Soooooooooooooooooo, what do you pay for a 50# bag?

How do they digest it with the shells on? Do you find BOSS shells in their poop? My kids really like the hulled seeds, medium chips. i mix it in with their scratch in the morning. It's maybe a 10% mix of boss to scratch, but sometimes the budget doesn't allow it for a month so they just get the scratch. i was thinking i would love to find it cheaper. By cheaper, i mean less than what i'm paying which is $59 for a 50# bag. They sell the 20# bags for $30. Sounds like i would be better off buying it in the shell and shelling them myself.

They don't seem to have a problem digesting it. I always check poop but I never find any shells in the poop. I usually mix one scoop of BOSS in a 5 gallon bucket with their other feed (lay pellets, feed mill chicken feed mixture). I noticed that when I started using BOSS many months ago, their egg production increased. So BOSS is part of their daily diet.

$59.00 for a 50# bag?

OMG!!!!! You should start planting your own BOSS!!! That is a lot!!!! Poor you.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Quote:
i know! i was thinking "poor me" too! Very glad to hear the chickens can handle the seed with the shells. That will save me a ton of money. Plus, i should plant some, too. i haven't grown any here, but at our last house in Southern Calif, i planted it once and it just kept popping up every year.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
i know! i was thinking "poor me" too! Very glad to hear the chickens can handle the seed with the shells. That will save me a ton of money. Plus, i should plant some, too. i haven't grown any here, but at our last house in Southern Calif, i planted it once and it just kept popping up every year.

How do you plant it? I think I may experiment this weekend if you can tell me what to do? How long does it take for it to grow? Even if I plant it and I don't get much, a little is better than nothing at all.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Well, first our birds planted it. i had a wild bird feeder out in front with the striped sunflower seeds and they fell on the ground and grew. So i threw some more of the seeds around. Pretty soon, our front yard was overtaken by HUGE sunflower plants. Some had one giant head. Some had multiple heads. It looked quite alien out there. i sure didn't do anything special to plant them, just tossed the seed, didn't even cover them up with dirt.

 

[schellie69]

I planted some sunflowers a couple of years ago stupid squirrels ate them before I got any. I think I will try again I am going to look at the wild bird food that had cayenne pepper in it I heard it helps with worms might try that for snacks for the girls.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
The shells get ground up in their gizzards like anything else they eat that is hard ( i.e. the corn in the scratch) , it's not like they pass whole shells. For this reason, don't feed BOSS unless your chickens have access to some sort of grit---either outside or what you provide--or they may end up with impacted crop.
BTW the unshelled kind is not only cheaper but goes further since it has more bulk so they won't eat as much.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Okay, so the light just went on in my head. BOSS SUNFLOWER SEEDS !!! DUH!!!!! SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!!!

Ok, don't laugh at me. I'm kinda slow on Wednesdays. So, WHEN my sunflowers grow, all I have to do is take out the seeds right? THUS SUNFLOWER SEEDS????

I planted some like this last year. The chickens ate them up. Now I know why.