Skip to Content

Can Turkeys Eat Sunflower Seeds? (Quick Answers)

Have you ever seen birds eating sunflower seeds? I’ve seen it many times. Basically, sunflower seeds are the favorite food source of birds and wild animals. It has fat and other energy boosters that help birds fly for a long time.

Also, sunflower seeds have high nutritional value. It can reduce high blood pressure and heart disease. Moreover, it has a nutty flavor that attracts almost all wild animals. So, the question is can a turkey eat sunflower seeds? What do you think?

Can turkeys eat sunflower seeds?

Turkeys can eat sunflower seeds like other wild animals. They love to eat it for its nutrients and taste. Sunflower seeds have a nutty flavor, and turkeys, like other birds, also love nuts. As an omnivore, a turkey can also eat sunflower seeds without any issues.

Sunflower seeds are the sources of food for birds. Some birds live on sunflower seeds. They extract most of their protein and other vitamins from these seeds. On the other hand, sunflower seeds are tasty. It smells like nuts.

For these reasons, birds and turkeys love to eat sunflower seeds. Notably, the wild turkeys love to eat different types of seeds. Sunflower seed is one of the most useful ones.

Furthermore, black oil sunflower seed is another type of seed that birds swallow and eat quickly. If you plant them, you need to ensure field safety. Otherwise, birds and turkeys will endeavor most of the black oil seeds.

Apart from the wild turkeys, you will find two more categories of turkeys. One is domestic turkeys, and the other one is baby turkeys. Let’s look at them and see if they can eat sunflower seeds or not.

Wild turkeys:

If you want to know about a single bird that is an omnivore, one name will peep through your mind. That is wild turkeys. On the other hand, wild turkey eats sunflower seeds regularly.

That’s the primary source for them to get fat and protein simultaneously. No other food can come with such a combination.

Domestic turkeys:

Domestic turkeys can eat sunflower seeds. But they are not like wild turkeys. If you want, you can surely feed them sunflower seeds.

Sunflower seeds have a nutty flavor. That’s the game-changer. When you offer sunflower seeds to your domestic turkeys, they will eat most of them.

Baby turkeys:

Sunflower seeds and other nuts are not ideal for feeding baby turkeys in whole. Therefore, you should blend them and break them into parts. After that, you can offer them to eat seeds.

On the other hand, baby turkeys can eat blended sunflower seeds. You should not force baby turkeys to eat whole grains or nuts.

4 reasons why turkeys will eat sunflower seeds –

Turkeys will eat sunflowers for below reasons:

Omnivores:

Turkeys are omnivores; therefore, they go for everything and will find the sunflower seeds tasty. These seeds are like nuts, and turkey loves nuts. That’s the first reason why turkeys will eat sunflower seeds regularly.

High fat and vitamins:

Sunflower seeds have high fat and vitamins; it is called the powerhouse for wild animals. So, when turkeys find sunflower seeds, they eat them whole and get instant energy to boost their activities. 

This is the 2nd reason why a turkey will eat sunflower seeds.

Balanced nutrients:

To grow turkeys, they need a proper amount of fat, protein, and vitamins. And, wild animals like turkeys find everything from sunflower seeds. So, they can grow fast and become robust. That’s why turkeys eat sunflower seeds.

Edible:

Sunflower seeds are edible. And, turkeys look for something to eat; they take a lot of fruits and nuts, along with vegetables. When they find sunflower seeds, they eat that too.

These are the four reasons why turkeys will eat sunflower seeds. You will find many more. Another reason could be blending. You can break the seeds and mix them. Then, you will make a blend of the seeds and offer them to the baby turkeys.

What happens when turkeys eat sunflower seeds?

When turkeys eat sunflower seeds, they get instant energy and boost their activities. That’s the first thing that happens when turkeys eat sunflower seeds. But there are more in this regard.

Turkeys eat sunflower seeds and get the protein and vitamins from there. That will ultimately help the turkeys to grow and become robust. As wild animals, turkeys need to be strong and face different weather conditions.

Additionally, when a turkey eats sunflower seeds, they start digesting them quickly. It’s another reason to eat seeds frequently. You can also offer your baby turkeys to eat seeds and digest quickly.

However, more occurrences will happen when turkeys eat sunflower seeds. Turkeys will extract the energy and fat from the seeds. Also, they will digest it quickly and enjoy running or playing around the field.

How much sunflower seeds do turkeys eat a day?

There is no limitation of turkey’s eating sunflower seeds. If you have pet turkeys, you need to control their eating habits. Therefore, ½ cup of sunflower seeds would be an ideal amount that your turkeys will eat in a day.

If you allow your turkeys to eat seeds, they will eat one cup of seeds at a time. But the fact is, it is not a good practice. Overeating sunflower seeds may cause some severe health issues.

First, your turkey will get extra fat that is not saturated. Therefore, when you let the turkeys eat freely, they will eat a lot. And that will lead to severe health issues, including high-pressure and heart problems.

That means overeating sunflower seeds will create fat in their kidneys. That’s another concern for pet lovers. That’s why the ideal amount of sunflower seeds that your turkeys should eat is half a cup.

How to feed sunflower seeds to turkeys?

You can feed your turkeys in different ways. However, it is not an ideal practice to feed turkeys. They are wild animals; they love to eat free foods. Therefore, you should allow the turkeys to eat food at their pace.

Still, if you want to feed sunflower seeds to turkeys, you should follow these steps. They all are practical ways; they will help you feed sunflower seeds. You can add them all or follow any steps that suit you best.

Break the shell:

You can break the shell and then feed the turkeys. Let’s explain it. You will buy sunflower seeds; then, you grab some grain in your hand.

After that, you need to offer the food towards the turkey. That’s the best way to feed your baby turkeys. They will be in your control, and you can build up a good habit.

Blend and mix:

In step two, you will blend the seeds and mix that with your turkey’s food. It will become an exciting way to feed your turkeys. There are some tips.

You need to half-blend the seeds. Don’t blend entirely; it will become useless. Then, add the blended seeds with the turkey’s food. It will be the second-best way to feed your turkeys.

Scatter:

You can feed turkeys the whole sunflower seeds. To do so, you can scatter the sunflower seeds on the cage or field where your turkeys play around.

As we know, whole grains are better foods for wild animals and human beings. These foods are precious. However, you can feed the whole sunflower seeds by scattering them in front of the turkeys.

Ready-made seeds:

Here are the last steps. You can buy blended or ready-made sunflower seeds from the local shops. It will become an ideal option.

However, the best way to naturally feed your turkeys is to plant some sunflower seeds. It will take time to grow, but it will meet your turkey’s needs when it grows. That’s the natural way to feed your turkeys with sunflower seeds.

Can turkeys eat birdseed?

Turkey can eat birdseed because turkey can eat other types of seeds, including sunflower seeds, nuts, and other whole grains. That’s why turkeys can eat bird seeds thoroughly.

Bird-seeds are the best pet food for birds. It’s a mixture of different seeds. And, you can either make your birdseed or buy the branded birdseed. To make the homemade birdseed, you will need to purchase the required seeds.

Then blend them entirely. However, it will be best to buy ready-made bird seeds. Then, feed the turkeys with birdseed. But, you cannot allow the turkeys to eat many bird seeds at a time.

On the other hand, overeating bird seeds will cause health difficulties or diseases. Therefore, you can offer little bird seeds to your baby turkeys. Otherwise, it will become a severe issue.

Final Thoughts

Sunflower seeds are the best grains for birds. They have a nutty flavor. Therefore, the turkeys can eat sunflower seeds. There are some other seeds that the turkeys can surely eat. Also, they have a high amount of vitamins, fats, protein, and minerals. They all help to grow the turkey fast.