Sunflower seeds, a cure?

[curerbell]

This is just my personal recommendation to all chicken keepers out there who may have unwell chickens, my advice is to try feeding them sunflower seeds. Or as I've been doing - roasted sunflower seeds! Last March / April two of my oldest chickens Dot and Nelly 6 + 5 stopped laying, Nelly recently started again which came as a surprise. Dot has peritonitis, her underbelly is swollen but she's living with it, last year she was given a hormone chip to stop the egg cycle process, which worked, yes, she molted (a few times) and her comb shrunk, and the personality does change slightly, they just go more quiet, but these are side effects from having the microchip - which is only meant to last around 8 months before wearing off, it's now been 12 months and she's doing ok, her comb is less bright than the others but her appetite is good. And the food she loves most (among other things) is roasted sunflower seeds, they all do, they've ben having them now since Christmas and I just see an improvement all around. She was usually needing Baytril every 2-3 weeks as she was getting very low, her poo a funny colour (yellow) and not eating much, but we've not had to give her Baytril now since Christmas. I just feel the sunflower seeds must be having some extremely good effect, reading up on them I know they're a good food so I just wanted to share this with you.
Sunflower seeds - I roast them in a pan with a little olive oil or butter (a little) then just keep turning to avoid them from burning. (But obviously don't give them hot, wait until they're cool)
Wonder if anyone else has good experiences with sunflower seeds... Hope this is of some help to people some day. Happy to reply to any comments or questions.

 

[CochinLover1]

That is interesting, I will try that when I have a sick or injured bird. I use cod liver oil.It gives chicks and adult birds an energy boost and works really well for me. It has saved several of my chicks from death as well as the adults. Just a couple of drops and your done.

 

[nchls school]

This is just my personal recommendation to all chicken keepers out there who may have unwell chickens, my advice is to try feeding them sunflower seeds. Or as I've been doing - roasted sunflower seeds! Last March / April two of my oldest chickens Dot and Nelly 6 + 5 stopped laying, Nelly recently started again which came as a surprise. Dot has peritonitis, her underbelly is swollen but she's living with it, last year she was given a hormone chip to stop the egg cycle process, which worked, yes, she molted (a few times) and her comb shrunk, and the personality does change slightly, they just go more quiet, but these are side effects from having the microchip - which is only meant to last around 8 months before wearing off, it's now been 12 months and she's doing ok, her comb is less bright than the others but her appetite is good. And the food she loves most (among other things) is roasted sunflower seeds, they all do, they've ben having them now since Christmas and I just see an improvement all around. She was usually needing Baytril every 2-3 weeks as she was getting very low, her poo a funny colour (yellow) and not eating much, but we've not had to give her Baytril now since Christmas. I just feel the sunflower seeds must be having some extremely good effect, reading up on them I know they're a good food so I just wanted to share this with you.
Sunflower seeds - I roast them in a pan with a little olive oil or butter (a little) then just keep turning to avoid them from burning. (But obviously don't give them hot, wait until they're cool)
Wonder if anyone else has good experiences with sunflower seeds... Hope this is of some help to people some day. Happy to reply to any comments or questions.

I feed small quantities of sunflower; especially in the winter. The birds love them, but...too much is fattening, there's not a lot of nutrition, and for many birds they seem to be almost addicting; being eaten to the exclusion of other, better foods.