[ChristyRose]

My friend has cut the dead sunflower heads off and offered some to me.  Can I give them to the chickens as they are or do I have to dry them out first?

[themagicaltoad1]

Just give them as they are, mine love them.

[Lindeggs]

If you have a few heads you might like to feed some now and store some for later.  But yes you can feed them as they are. 

If storing them make sure you hang them in a cool, dry place where they won't go mouldy.   I was offered some sunflower heads a while ago and gladly accepted them, then when they arrived I found my friend had kept them in a platic bag and they had all gone mouldy.   This can be quite harmful to birds so I'm sad to say they went into my compost instead.