Should I mix black oil sunflower seeds in with the chicken feed?

[Al Gerhart]

Beyond the nutritional advice that was well given already, mixing things into pellets or mash just creates feed raking chickens. They will dig for those goodies! Keep your bulk feed uniform and hand feed the treats.

 

[jandtcoleman]

I don't feed them to my chickens either, it's a high fat tasty treat, eaten preferentially, and then promoting fatty liver issues with the high status birds in the flock. Not good!
Here we have all the feed and any treats in the coop and safe roofed run, not outside, where other critters are attracted, and show up at night.
Also, feeding a low protein diet like the 16% protein layer feeds, and then adding more low protein, high fat treats, makes that marginal protein diet actually deficient, so more feather eating is likely to happen. Our flock gets a 20% protein all-flock diet, with oyster shell in a separate feeder, and their molts are milder and faster, and every bird gets what they need, actively laying eggs, or not.
Mary

What feed do you use? I'm looking to go to a 20% as well.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Here our best choice is Purina's Flock Raiser, with grit and oyster shell in separate dishes. We want to feed used within two months of it's mill date, and most often FR works for that. Very occasionally, if it's not fresh enough, an unmedicated chick starter is a good substitute.
There's no good local feed mill here, so no very local feeds are available.
You might find something else where you shop, there's no one perfect choice everywhere.
Mary

 

[Chey1214]

I had to buy some sunflower seeds because a few of my hens got really skinny (bullying from rooster) and I needed the sunflower for the fat. But i only gave them a little, now it’s a treat mixed in with wheat and corn here and there…All birds are no longer really skinny!

 

[DavisRandH Farms]

Awesome. Thank you! I bought them because they have been pecking and eating each other's feathers..... will keep it separate, but now wondering how often to feed to them.

Thank you!

I don't know why the person fire said don't feed them but we mix some into our diet and we hand mix all of our feet and make our own because we have breeder Birds. The average person doesn't know the math on mixing the giant to make sure that they get a balance diet. Black will sunflower seeds are beneficial in many ways not only the vitamins but for ducks they have the niacin in them that ducks need. Excessively feeding them is where the problem comes in. There is a long list of beneficial reasons to mix in these black wall some flower seeds especially if your birds are in molt? Your birds will molt three times faster having black oil sunflower seeds in their diet because it has the vitamins and everything they need to grow them new feathers in! We raised over 40 breeds including exotics and hand mix all of our feet and our birds stay so ready year-round!

 

[nuthatched]

I don't know why the person fire said don't feed them but we mix some into our diet and we hand mix all of our feet and make our own because we have breeder Birds. The average person doesn't know the math on mixing the giant to make sure that they get a balance diet. Black will sunflower seeds are beneficial in many ways not only the vitamins but for ducks they have the niacin in them that ducks need. Excessively feeding them is where the problem comes in. There is a long list of beneficial reasons to mix in these black wall some flower seeds especially if your birds are in molt? Your birds will molt three times faster having black oil sunflower seeds in their diet because it has the vitamins and everything they need to grow them new feathers in! We raised over 40 breeds including exotics and hand mix all of our feet and our birds stay so ready year-round!

This is an old thread my friend, your not likely to receive an answer from the op.
Please do not revive old threads if you can help it. :]

 

[Kiki]

I don't know why the person fire said don't feed them but we mix some into our diet and we hand mix all of our feet and make our own because we have breeder Birds. The average person doesn't know the math on mixing the giant to make sure that they get a balance diet. Black will sunflower seeds are beneficial in many ways not only the vitamins but for ducks they have the niacin in them that ducks need. Excessively feeding them is where the problem comes in. There is a long list of beneficial reasons to mix in these black wall some flower seeds especially if your birds are in molt? Your birds will molt three times faster having black oil sunflower seeds in their diet because it has the vitamins and everything they need to grow them new feathers in! We raised over 40 breeds including exotics and hand mix all of our feet and our birds stay so ready year-round!

"Your birds will molt three times faster having black oil sunflower seeds in their diet because it has the vitamins and everything they need to grow them new feathers in!"

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So a bit off topic, since I'm not looking to mix them into my feed anyways, but what exactly are black oil sunflower seeds? Is it seeds coated in an oil? A specific strain of sunflower used specifically for the seeds? A catch all name for every seed from eclcery sunflower?

 

[Brooks_]

So a bit off topic, since I'm not looking to mix them into my feed anyways, but what exactly are black oil sunflower seeds? Is it seeds coated in an oil? A specific strain of sunflower used specifically for the seeds? A catch all name for every seed from eclcery sunflower?

A cultivar bred for a higher oil yield.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

A cultivar bred for a higher oil yield.

Okay, so seeds from random ones I grow are probably going to have a different nutrition profile?