Feeding Pumpkins to Free-range Chickens

[centrarchid]

Pumpkins are coming into season here and they make good eats for my birds. I have been using busted and and diseased pumpkins as a replacer for scratch grains, especially the corn / wheat site of the mix. The chickens are really partial to the fruit, but they eat the seeds as well. I thought I hid the gold mine getting a couple 60 lb pumpkins, but they do not have much in the way of seeds. Need to find a variety that produces lots of seeds.

 

[centrarchid]

What do you mean 'busted open'?

I just throw it down hard. My kids butcher it with hatched or hammer. My chickens have never consumed cooked pumpkin to my knowledge, but they eat anything I eat and then some. The additional time required to consume raw pumpkin does not seem to be an issue as it appears to be a source of entertainment as well. They have at times pecked holes into intact pumpkins on their own. First the consumed seeds and the guts, then they went after the flesh. It was like watching vultures poking their heads into a rotting corpse.

 

[centrarchid]

When we do our shopping for carving pumpkins I will pick up a smaller one for my birds.

They can eat a lot. Mine consuming enough not to be interested in water.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

When we do our shopping for carving pumpkins I will pick up a smaller one for my birds.

I've been known to "shop" for pumpkins from friends and families front steps after the holidays. Funny looks, but most people just toss the pumpkins in the trash...and when they realize they could have another "life" as chicken food, they're happy to hand 'em over.

 

[black_cat]

I’ve been feeding mine the extra cucumbers I have from the garden. They first attack the seeds then clean the flesh to the skin. I also will have over 30 Sweet Mamma winter squash, they’ll get a few and all the seeds they want.

Mine love cucumbers! In the summer we would chop them up and put them in the freezer, the high amounts of water in them made them into very good chicken popsicles.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I find my flock prefers their pumpkin and squash cooked...it softens the flesh and makes it easier to eat. If you are lucky enough to have a wood stove, a pot on top with the squash and some water is the way to go with this....no extra energy used.

It doesn't have to be whole squash or pumpkins, either...just the remains of the butternut squash you made for dinner (skins, seeds, etc.) is still good flock fodder.

That being said, I've also dropped a whole pumpkin in the run and busted it open with a boot stomp, and not gotten much for complaints.

 

[horscraz]

how do you prepare the pumpkin for them? just the seeds? just the pumpkin “guts”? both together? both seperate? cooked or uncooked? is it healthy? how often can it be given? ducks too?

I just throw the pumpkin in their run if I am short on time or cut is in quarters so there are is enough pieces to go around.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Pumpkins, butternut squash, and other winter squash are all great fall feed supplements. I find the orange flesh leads to nice dark yokes, too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Sad to say my birds ate all the squash, the zukes and the watermelons while the fruit were quite small, then proceeded to eat all the leaves o ff most of the plants. I was hoping for at least a couple veggies for myself, but no, the greedy ... took them all for themselves.

Maybe I'll add pumpkin to the plantings next year.

They can't eat it all, right???

 

[black_cat]

When we do our shopping for carving pumpkins I will pick up a smaller one for my birds.