Question about pumpkin seeds

[casportpony]

The studies speak for themselves. If a plant or chemical product affects helminths in the gut or out of the gut it should work across species. No. I did not find a study that dealt specifically with fecal load in CHICKENS before and after cucurbit treatment. However, the fact that cucurbits do have an effect on helminth motility, and the studies quoted came to the conclusion that cucurbits were fairly effective as an antihelminthic is sufficient for me. Further, who would pay for such a study? Follow the money, and you will find out how truthful or self serving a lot of studies are. Studies in the poultry industry tend to be paid for by the chemical and pharmaceutical pushers.

The problem I see I that many chicken owners will read such studies and assume that feeding their chickens pumpkin seeds that they don't have a worm problem.

Expensive studies aren't needed, all I want to see are the before, during and after fecals from one person.

I have a friend that does their own fecals, and they have done before and after fecals on the efficacy of the different types of sulfa drugs against coccidia, the efficacy of amprolium against coccidia, and the efficacy of using albendazole in water to treat various worms.

Why isn't someone that believes in pumpkin seeds willing to do this? It's not that expensive.

 

[casportpony]

The Problem With Pumpkin Seeds

Published on Tue, 12/29/2015 - 1:09pm
googleplus

When wisdom may be wrong

By Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer
Every fall, chicken blogs and forums are flooded with posts about pumpkin seeds being an all-natural dewormer for chickens. You don’t see the posts as much the rest of the year, but because pumpkins are so readily available during the holiday season, the posts become almost viral. The only problem is that there are no studies to support this information.
The issue is not about giving pumpkin flesh or pumpkin seeds to your chickens—they will likely enjoy the seasonal treat—but instead that readers will take this information as proven fact and think they are actually deworming their flock, when in fact, they aren't.
When the treatment doesn't treat

Whenever a chicken keeper posts “How do I deworm my chickens?” or “Should I deworm my chickens?” on a blog or forum, you can almost predict the coming comments from other chicken keepers. Inevitably, someone will post that pumpkin seeds are an all-natural dewormer as if it’s proven scientific fact. When questioned and asked for some kind of proof, nine times out of ten their answer is, “I give pumpkin seeds to my flock and they don’t have worms.”
The usual follow-up question is "Have you ever had your chickens tested to prove it?" That typically places them on the defensive—and the name-calling begins—when all I have requested is some proof to support their statement. Soon after, they rush to Google to search for a study they can find that may prove their point. The giveaway is that the first study they often refer to is a well-known Delaware State University study about goats and other ruminants. It’s apparent that they haven't read the complete study because they would have found that, while the goats did actually expel some worms during the study, they still had worms after treatment. Not to mention—at least the last time I checked—chickens are not goats or ruminants.
Proving a point

At a minimum, In order to prove that pumpkin seeds are in fact an all-natural dewormer, you need to show that you started with chickens that are indeed infested, the types of worm (or worms) infecting the chickens, the variety and amount of pumpkin seeds used, how long they were administered, the method used to ensure that each chicken received the same dose, and, finally, a test demonstrating that the chickens are worm-free.
While there may be a study in the back of a file cabinet in some university somewhere that proves that pumpkin seeds are an effective all-natural dewormer for chickens, these studies first need to see the light of day, and then be replicated by other, independent studies before the information can be accepted as true.
Additional misinformation

Another frequently-found piece of deworming misinformation found online concerns the egg withdrawal period for popular retail dewormer Wazine. The common response is this withdrawal period is two weeks. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. Yes, the withdrawal period for meat consumption after using Wazine is two weeks, but there is no official egg withdrawal time for the consumption of eggs.
For the past decade I have been sharing this information, and even stating that if you actually call the company that manufactures Wazine and ask them what the official egg withdrawal is for their product, they will tell you that there is no official egg withdrawal time, and that you should never again eat eggs from your laying hens that you have treated using Wazine. In fact, I called them again recently to verify this information for this article.
Their main concern is that drug residues that may be found inside eggs from chickens that have been treated with Wazine. If you personally make the decision to still eat the eggs, that’s on you. But you are taking a risk if you give away, barter, or sell your eggs from chickens you have treated with Wazine—especially is someone has a reaction to the drug residues found in the eggs they received from you.
About the author

Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer, hosts the popular podcast Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer and has authored The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens. Andy is also the national spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Biosecurity for Birds program.

• http://www.acreagelife.com/articles/problem-pumpkin-seeds
• http://viewer.zmags.com/publication...aign=Acreage+11212015+Newsletter#/570ea92d/25

 

[guineapeeps]

Going a little off of the “pumpkin” seed topic, but still sticking with seeds:
You can also roast squash seeds. I grow pie pumpkin, acorn squash, and butternut squash every year and roast the seeds of all three. By far, my favorite is roasted butternut squash seeds! I boil them in water for about 2 minutes, drain the water and toss them with salt and olive oil, then roast them in the oven. (The boiling before baking makes them more crispy).

 

[lazy gardener]

The problem I see I that many chicken owners will read such studies and assume that feeding their chickens pumpkin seeds that they don't have a worm problem.

Expensive studies aren't needed, all I want to see are the before, during and after fecals from one person.

I have a friend that does their own fecals, and they have done before and after fecals on the efficacy of the different types of sulfa drugs against coccidia, the efficacy of amprolium against coccidia, and the efficacy of using albendazole in water to treat various worms.

Why isn't someone that believes in pumpkin seeds willing to do this? It's not that expensive.

Perhaps your friend would like to complete such an unbiased study.

 

[casportpony]

Perhaps your friend would like to complete such an unbiased study.

He wasn't interested in doing it for ivermectin or piperazine, so I doubt he would want to do it for pumpkin seeds.

 

[casportpony]

Going a little off of the “pumpkin” seed topic, but still sticking with seeds:
You can also roast squash seeds. I grow pie pumpkin, acorn squash, and butternut squash every year and roast the seeds of all three. By far, my favorite is roasted butternut squash seeds! I boil them in water for about 2 minutes, drain the water and toss them with salt and olive oil, then roast them in the oven. (The boiling before baking makes them more crispy).

I bet they are tasty!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I did not know about the boiling trick! I may have to go get some pumpkins just so I can have the seeds.

 

[R2elk]

The Problem With Pumpkin Seeds

Published on Tue, 12/29/2015 - 1:09pm
googleplus

When wisdom may be wrong

By Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer
Every fall, chicken blogs and forums are flooded with posts about pumpkin seeds being an all-natural dewormer for chickens. You don’t see the posts as much the rest of the year, but because pumpkins are so readily available during the holiday season, the posts become almost viral. The only problem is that there are no studies to support this information.
The issue is not about giving pumpkin flesh or pumpkin seeds to your chickens—they will likely enjoy the seasonal treat—but instead that readers will take this information as proven fact and think they are actually deworming their flock, when in fact, they aren't.
When the treatment doesn't treat

Whenever a chicken keeper posts “How do I deworm my chickens?” or “Should I deworm my chickens?” on a blog or forum, you can almost predict the coming comments from other chicken keepers. Inevitably, someone will post that pumpkin seeds are an all-natural dewormer as if it’s proven scientific fact. When questioned and asked for some kind of proof, nine times out of ten their answer is, “I give pumpkin seeds to my flock and they don’t have worms.”
The usual follow-up question is "Have you ever had your chickens tested to prove it?" That typically places them on the defensive—and the name-calling begins—when all I have requested is some proof to support their statement. Soon after, they rush to Google to search for a study they can find that may prove their point. The giveaway is that the first study they often refer to is a well-known Delaware State University study about goats and other ruminants. It’s apparent that they haven't read the complete study because they would have found that, while the goats did actually expel some worms during the study, they still had worms after treatment. Not to mention—at least the last time I checked—chickens are not goats or ruminants.
Proving a point

At a minimum, In order to prove that pumpkin seeds are in fact an all-natural dewormer, you need to show that you started with chickens that are indeed infested, the types of worm (or worms) infecting the chickens, the variety and amount of pumpkin seeds used, how long they were administered, the method used to ensure that each chicken received the same dose, and, finally, a test demonstrating that the chickens are worm-free.
While there may be a study in the back of a file cabinet in some university somewhere that proves that pumpkin seeds are an effective all-natural dewormer for chickens, these studies first need to see the light of day, and then be replicated by other, independent studies before the information can be accepted as true.
Additional misinformation

Another frequently-found piece of deworming misinformation found online concerns the egg withdrawal period for popular retail dewormer Wazine. The common response is this withdrawal period is two weeks. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. Yes, the withdrawal period for meat consumption after using Wazine is two weeks, but there is no official egg withdrawal time for the consumption of eggs.
For the past decade I have been sharing this information, and even stating that if you actually call the company that manufactures Wazine and ask them what the official egg withdrawal is for their product, they will tell you that there is no official egg withdrawal time, and that you should never again eat eggs from your laying hens that you have treated using Wazine. In fact, I called them again recently to verify this information for this article.
Their main concern is that drug residues that may be found inside eggs from chickens that have been treated with Wazine. If you personally make the decision to still eat the eggs, that’s on you. But you are taking a risk if you give away, barter, or sell your eggs from chickens you have treated with Wazine—especially is someone has a reaction to the drug residues found in the eggs they received from you.
About the author

Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer, hosts the popular podcast Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer and has authored The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens. Andy is also the national spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Biosecurity for Birds program.

• http://www.acreagelife.com/articles/problem-pumpkin-seeds
• http://viewer.zmags.com/publication...aign=Acreage+11212015+Newsletter#/570ea92d/25

I give my chickens and turkeys whole pumpkins cut into manageable sections. They go for the seeds first and then the flesh and finally the rind. The only part they don't eat are the stems. I have not seen any evidence of worms in any of my chickens or turkeys, but.....

I don't give any pumpkin or seeds to my guineas and I have never seen any evidence of worms in any of my guineas either. The reason I don't give pumpkins to my guineas is because they will not eat it. Other than doing their "this is different dance" around the pumpkin pieces they then ignore it completely.

 

[R2elk]

I did not know about the boiling trick! I may have to go get some pumpkins just so I can have the seeds.

Too bad you aren't closer, I would be happy to give you some pumpkins.

 

[guineapeeps]

I give my chickens and turkeys whole pumpkins cut into manageable sections. They go for the seeds first and then the flesh and finally the rind. The only part they don't eat are the stems. I have not seen any evidence of worms in any of my chickens or turkeys, but.....

I don't give any pumpkin or seeds to my guineas and I have never seen any evidence of worms in any of my guineas either. The reason I don't give pumpkins to my guineas is because they will not eat it. Other than doing their "this is different dance" around the pumpkin pieces they then ignore it completely.

I know exactly what you mean about the guinea’s “this is different dance”......the do it while they are loudly singing their “this is different song”!