pumpkins and chickens

[ihavewings]

I have about 59 pumpkins and over 50 hens. how much is to much?

 

[Sunny-Side Up]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[CHlCK3N]

Pumpkin is good for chickens, as long as it isn't left in the run and was allowed to rot and if it is used as a food source rather than a treat.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us Pumpkin is a wonderful treat, but treat none-the-less. Generally speaking treats should be limited to no more than 10% of total diet. Nice thing is pumpkins store well and can be given over time. I cut them in half and drop them in various locations around the pasture. I used a half dozen small ones for 100 birds.

 

[azygous]

My chickens get squash all winter long from what I harvest in fall. They seem to eat the squash and eat their full daily fermented feed ration. They do not ignore it in favor of squash.

Your chickens will consume what pumpkin they want while also eating their regular food. Do not be worried.

 

[Foristers]

Pumpkins are a treat that gives twice and you may or may not want to separate the two treats. You've got pumpkin seeds and pumpkin flesh. Between Halloween and early December I put a post on social media and go around an collect uncarved pumpkins that people set out as decorations for the holidays. I usually have a great response; this year was the best yet.
I give one descent sized pumpkin, halved and raw - seeds and all, for my 13 chickens about every third day.
The seeds will be gone and the flesh will be significantly eaten out, but not all gone. The rest goes to compost.
The good thing is that pumpkins last for several month (if not cut open or carved). As they start to turn even the least bit soft, I take those and get the seeds out and roast the flesh that is still good and use the puree to make a mash for them throughout the rest of the winter and into the spring. (Kept in freezer bag in deep freeze.)
Pumpkin seeds keep even longer (obviously). I use them in my own chicken feed as the protein supplement in lieu of soybeans, but the ratio is a little different as pumpkin seeds only have about 30-33% protein vs. 47% for soybeans. The good news is that pumpkin seed are packed full of other vitamins and minerals and antioxidants that make them a very good substitute and base for a homemade chicken feed. They even contain the lysine and methionine that chickens need, and in much greater amounts than a typical corn/soybean based diet.

 

[Peckadoodle]

Slice, dehyrate, and sell on ebay. Great vitamin A for all animals and known to treat diarrhea in goats. Perfect treat!