Is it good to feed chickens sunflower seeds everyday?

[chicklets81]

When I get home from work at 4:30 pm, I like to give them treats to say "I'm home". (Hubby works 2nd shift, he lets the chickens out later in morning after I go to work...so the roosters aren't crowing in his ear while hes sleeping)

Is it good to give them sunflower seeds everyday? They seem to love it. I bought it to put in the bird feeders, but they gobble it up!

I have been in a routine of giving it to them everyday when I get home, while also making sure their food dish is kept full. Is this good for them?

Thanks

 

[Poultrybreeder]

We feed ours sunflower seeds everyday, not a whole lot, but a little. It doesn't seem to hurt them

 

[chicklets81]

how much is a little? I feed them 2 cups. I just take a 2 cup container and scoop it and scatter it on ground. I have 28 chickens, so its just enough to make a little circle around me so everyone gets a little bit. Do you think that's too much?

 

[CharB]

I have 4 hens and I give them a "good morning" mix of black sunflower seeds, meal worms, oats and peanuts. They've already been up a while and eaten some crumble. In the winter I will switch corn for the peanuts. I give them about a cup of this mixture to share. I read that sunflower seeds are high protein and good for when they are molting which is about to happen. As with humans, there are good treats and then there is junk food. I think this is a good treat. I say go for it and just remember as with any treat, not too much to ruin their appetite!

 

[~KH~]

My last small flock got sunflower seeds daily and I plan to do the same with my new chicks. I'd use sunflower seeds to get them to come back in from free ranging and go into their coop. And in the winter, when they didn't go out much, I'd throw the seeds in with them to give them something to scratch and hunt around for in their bedding. With 6 hens, I'd give them a yogurt cup full each day.

 

[mockingbird]

Sunflower seeds are a regular part of my flocks' diet. Even more so in winter when they are not getting as much protein from foraging.

I have several patches of sunflowers in the backyard that the chickens planted - lol! I was raising up some chicks in a small coop I moved around the yard like a tractor - every place it rested became a sunflower patch!

 

[lazy gardener]

how much is a little? I feed them 2 cups. I just take a 2 cup container and scoop it and scatter it on ground. I have 28 chickens, so its just enough to make a little circle around me so everyone gets a little bit. Do you think that's too much?

That works out to just over 1 tablespoon per bird. When you take the shell into account, that's not a lot. But, I'd not want to give them any more than that. Sunflower seed is very high in fat. Chickens who have a lot of visceral fat have a difficult time passing eggs, and can be prone to egg binding.

 

[Folly's place]

Consider it candy, and feed accordingly. 'House birds' like parrots and budgies will eat the sunflower seeds in mixed feeds, and not eat their pellets, and get fatty livers and do badly. My chickens don't get a lot of scratch feed or sunflower seeds, just a very small amount. Mary

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Sunflower is not that high in protein. It's almost twice the content of corn but still not that high, not sure where people get that it has a lot of protein- around 14%. It does have over 30% fat content though and why we use it as treat for chickens in winter. Quick burning fat for cold days.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine do enjoy sunflower seeds but they only get them once a week or so when I refill the bird feeder. I give treats everyday but I try to vary it so they get a varied diet.