Sunflower Seeds

[Featherland]

If a chicken eats regular sunflower seeds that are in the hull, will it break done the hull enough to get the benefit of the protein in the seed? I am looking for food to grow that has a high protein content. Also, does anyone know of anything else that I could grow that is high in protein?

 

[flakey chick]

And while we are discussing this, is there any difference between regular "sunflower seeds" and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds?

 

[MissPrissy]

Mine do not eat the hulls. They crack the shell and eat the seed. When I give them a scoop of BOSS in the morning when I go back in the afternoon I see all the little black hull halves.

 

[Wildsky]

Mine eat the hull - and I've never inspected a poop to see if the shell comes out or if it comes out whole...

 

[dangerouschicken]

The scratch I buy has hulless sunflower seeds in it. They go CRAZY for it. We give them BOSS once in a while, too. They just crack them and eat the insides.

 

[flakey chick]

Sorry, I'm still not quite sure, what is the difference between BOSS and SS?

When I was little we fed the wild birds sunflower seeds, but had never heard them called "black oil sunflower seeds". Is that a special variety of sunflower seed? Does it mean it's just still in the shell?

 

[MissPrissy]

BOSS is the most common type of sunflower seeds in the wild bird feed.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

"Black oilers" are just smaller all black sunflower seeds. The other kind of sunflower seed that people and birds eat are the larger gray and white striped kind. Either one is fine to feed, hull and all.

My girls eat the seeds whole.

 

[Chirpy]

Ok then ... what about salted sunflower seeds? Is that safe?

 

[Buff Hooligans]

No, salt overloading a small system like a chicken's would be very unwise.