Posted by GoatWorld on November 17, 2002 at 08:38:38:
In Reply to: Sunflower Seeds as feed posted by Kerrie on November 17, 2002 at 04:53:37:
Hi Kerrie,
Black sunflower seeds are the preferred choice to add to a mix - most people simply throw a handful or two as a treat. I think the reason why you don't see to many mixes with black oil sunflower seeds is because the amount of protein can vary. From what I know (which is sometimes limited :-) ) black oil sunflower seeds vary from 17 to 25% (or higher) protein. This makes calculating a mix rather difficult because you'll either end up with too much or too little in the way of protein. But nonetheless, if you want to try a mix, here's the way you can go about it using 21% protein as the baseline value for the sunflower seeds:
50 pounds of sunflower seeds = 21% protein
50 pounds of cracked corn = 6% protein
Add the two protein levels together (21 + 6 = 27%) and divide by 2 = 13.5% protein for the 100 pound mix.
Let's say that you want to get less protein than 13.5% and want to add something in addition to cracked corn - oats are always a good choice:
50 pounds of sunflower seeds = 21% protein
50 pounds of cracked corn = 6% protein
50 pounds of cracked corn = 6% protein
50 pounds of whole oats = 12% protein
(You'll notice I added cracked corn twice.) -
Now you have 4 separate ingredients so you'll be dividing by 4. Add the protein totals together (21 + 6 + 6 + 12 = 45) and divide 45 by 4 to get an approximate 11% mix.
As you can see, it is just a matter of adjusting the ingredients here and there and doing the math. Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Gary