They don't like BOSS

[secuono]

Mine are crazy picky. They only like 2 seeds in the scratch mix. They pick their fav and then when all the food is gone and there is nothing else to eat, then they eat the rest...
I can only imagine how long BOSS will sit out there before I start cracking it for them! lol

 

[Beekissed]

Chicken.Lytle :

My birds will do anything for BOSS . I could probably train them to repair diesel engines with enough Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.

I love this!!! Mine too!

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
I did an experiment with scratch. I made little piles of each type of seed and watched which ones they ate and in what order:

1. Milo
2. Sorghum
3. Black Oil Sunflower Seed
4. Millet (with great reluctance)

I tried planting milo, but I think the bag had been steam cleaned. I have high hopes for my ultra cheap WalMart bag of "Economy Wild Bid Seed". It is so cheap that they list rocks as one of the ingredients.

By the way, Amyh, are you using black oil sunflower seed or the kind with the white stripe. White stripe is for energy traders who are not allowed to smoke at their desks and the black thin-hulled ones are for chickens. You might try putting a little plain yogurt on the seeds to get them started. That got my chickens crazy for oats .

 

[Beekissed]

I have found that the chickens get hungry enough, eventually, to clean up any grains they don't particularly prefer. I just wait until they clean their plate before offering more.

 

[Judy]

Chicken.Lytle :

I have high hopes for my ultra cheap WalMart bag of "Economy Wild Bid Seed". It is so cheap that they list rocks as one of the ingredients.

Free grit here, guys.... well, not free....​

 

[denise70]

For those of you who are concerned about the hulls on BOSS - you needn't worry. They eat the hulls on BOSS because they are soft. So, generally you don't usually see hulled BOSS. Keeping them in the shell helps it to last longer too.

BOSS is darker and smaller than regular sunflower seeds. Best of all, no waste. A lot of wild bird seed mixtures contain small amounts of BOSS and all birds (and squirrels) seem to like them.

Mine LOVE BOSS, but I do mix it with other scratch because it is so much more expensive.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Thanks to whoever mentioned making a hot mash out of it - my dumb clucks will still bill the BOSS and Calf Manna out of their normal feed but when it's hot and wet they'll eat the lot. I no longer have visions of being stuck with 50 pounds of useless sunflower seeds! Now if only they'll eat the ten pounds of it currently scattered all over their floor from their horrified reaction the first time...

 

[firsthouse_mp]

I am also going to try sprouting BOSS to see if that would be more attractive to them. I guess it can't hurt!

 

[lovin my girls]

I was reading back through this thread....

I've never bought BOSS before, but want to get some for our girlies.

Can I just buy this at Walmart? Or, do I need a special kind?

Thanks!!

 

[Pinky]

You can buy it from walmart. I just bought a 50 pound bag from the grocery store. It was only $8.00. I usually pay $5.00 for a 10 lb bag.