So don't toss out those Halloween jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins dotting your front porch, give them to your flock!
I've even been known to ask my neighbors for their pumpkins when they're done with them.
As long as they're not rotted, your chickens will love them.
Health Benefits of Pumpkin Treats
Pumpkin is high in potassium, calcium, magnesium, niacin, iron and beta-carotene, as well as vitamins A, B, C and E.
Pumpkins are high in fiber, and the seeds are high in good fats. Pumpkins also have anti-oxidant properties.
It's the coating on the raw seeds that is supposed to have the ability to paralyze parasites, so go ahead and cut the pumpkin in half and let your girls go at it. They can eat pumpkin either raw or cooked.
A jack-o-lantern given to them whole will soon be reduced to nothing.
They'll eventually eat a whole pumpkin too, happily pecking right through the skin, but if your chickens aren't used to eating pumpkins, cutting them in half at first introduces them to the yummy treat more successfully.
I like to cut the pumpkins in half, then sprinkle in some chicken feed, maybe a few sunflower seeds, some chopped herbs...
Whole, uncut pumpkins will keep just fine stored in a cool, dry place for two months or so, or you can freeze extra, so you can ration your Halloween decor for your flock through the winter.
Just cut the squash into cubes and freeze them, and then just defrost as much as you want and dole it out to your flock over the course of the winter.
