Sunflower seeds

[Jennym]

I was at agway the other day asking if I could give my six hens the sunflower seeds that they sell for wild birds and they said no. I am a first time owner and my girls are 14 weeks now. Love my girls so much and have become so attached to all of them. Can someone knowledgeable answer this for me. Shells on or off do you think?

 

[CUDA]

Yes you can give them sunflower seed, just make sure they are black oil sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are good for the feathers, in moderation. You can feed them hulled, or not. Just don't go overboard with them.

 

[Katy]

Mine love them as a treat.

 

[Jennym]

What is your opinion on raw hulled pumpkin seeds? Where can I buy them?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Call them and ask them why. I believe I've heard the same, but I never heard the reasoning. Now I am very curious because I do feed them to my ducks.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

I have only seen the pumpkin seeds in the grocery store and maybe you should check the treats chart byc has posted to make sure they are safe. The Black oil sunflower seeds are the best, although they are anything but cheap..$26.00 for 50 pounds last week here in NC.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Here is the treats charts...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I don't trust anything that a sales person in a feed store has to say. Most of the time they have less experiance and know less than you do!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Here's a previous post about Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (abbreviated as BOSS in the posts).

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Good point, Katy. That is often the case.