What a steal!!! Such a surplus of pumpkins!!

[haus]

I just jumped on to see if anybody fed the chickens pumpkins. I have a bag full of carvings and pumpkin guts..

 

[SteveBaz]

Quote:
They love it!!

 

[kari_dawn]

Someone on the forum mentioned that feeding melon will severely slow egg production. I have never heard of that before, but gords are kindof related to melons...would feeding lotsa pumpkin affect egg laying adversely?

 

[crazyhen]

Pumpkins are treats. Not a full meal. I bake them and they get a small amt. as an adjunct to their reg. foods. Too much of anything is bad for laying except laying feed. I also wait until about noon or later to feed this. That way they eat plenty of laying feed of a morning. It does help with vit. but I really do not think it helps much with worms. Gloria Jean

 

[farmerinKC]

I recently scraped out the seeds and stringy stuff from a large pumpkin-chopped it up in a food processor with some buttermilk. My chickens really loved it. I read here on some thread that the pumpkin seed/buttermilk combo was good for preventing worms. I thought it seemed like something worth doing since I had both buttermilk and pumpkin seeds on hand. I divided it up and fed it to them over three days. They thought it was yummy!

 

[Beekissed]

Pumpkin seeds contain a chemical that paralyzes intestinal parasites, causing them to detach and be flushed out with the fecal matter.

No, they don't severely hamper egg production, they just happen to ripen and be fed during natural slow down in egg production. Same thing happens when apples ripen....they do not slow down egg production either, they just happen to coincide with fall slow down.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
I always wondered about that Bee, you answered my question exactly, thanks.

 

[kari_dawn]

Thank you for the information

That is actually what I kindof figured. So, whoever said that feeding melon to hens will slow egg production, myth or fact?


And what chemical in pumpkin are you talking about? How effective is it?

 

[Beekissed]

Phytosterols (eg, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol), antioxidant tocopherols, antihelminthic cucurbitin(the chemical of which you asked), squalene, and cardioprotective fatty acids have been isolated from the seeds and seed oil. The presence of squash inhibitors (serine protease inhibitors) is thought to confer a protective effect to the plant against pests and

Scientific data from Drugs.com article on pumpkin seeds/oils and the potential for health benefits....I learned something new today. Turns out pumpkin seeds are great for many, many reasons!​

 

[real_redhead]

Can't wait to carve the pumpkins and give the girls a new treat!!! Spoiled chickens!