Birds and Sunfllowers...

vfem

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I planted a bunch of sunflowers for fun, now I look at them as they flop over and start drying and think... "should I harvest the seeds?"

These are just decrotive so the seed heads aren't huge, however, I want to collect what I can to dry and mix with bird seed for winter. Is this a good idea and how would be easiest to do this?
 

bid

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Well this may or may not help. I was out near the garden the other day and saw a pair of goldfinch (at least I think that's what they were) working on my sunflowers. That told me it was time to harvest some for seeds for next year and some for the birds this winter. That and the leaves on most of them had died and shriveled up.
I just clip the heads off and spread the seeds out to dry on a tray if I want them for planting next year. For the birds, I leave the heads intact. One note of caution, I left a few heads out to dry under the carport and the chickens found them. Had a great time apparently. A highly nutritious day free ranging for them, a few less sunflower seeds for the wild birds this winter. :)
 

Greenthumb18

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I say yes, the birds will love those sunflower seeds i give them to my birds all the time they love it. You could dry the seed heads until the green parts of the sunflower are brownish.
 

TillinWithMyPeeps

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It would probably be easier to just toss a whole head in at a time, and let the chickens have a field day.

As far as harvesting the seeds, I'm sure the birds would enjoy them, but they would likely not contain the same protein content as the seeds of other sunflowers that are bred for feed purposes.
 

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