Pumpkins are a fall staple on the homestead. Not only for cooking, baking, decorating, and carving… but also for the homestead flock! I love pumpkins, and my homestead flock does too! While I like cooking and baking with pumpkins, the chickens prefer to just chow down into a raw pumpkin. Pumpkin is a valuable fall supplement that contains numerous benefits for homestead chickens. It is full of valuable nutrients, beneficial fiber, and it can even be used as an internal parasite preventive! Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of pumpkin for chickens so you can best know how to use this fun fall vegetable for your flock!
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Disclaimer: I am not a vet or poultry nutritionalist. I gather all my information from personal experience, basic knowledge of the supplements I use, and by referencing research-based articles relating to poultry.
Why Should Chickens Eat Pumpkin?
Pumpkin is just one of the many holistic supplements you can give your flock during fall and winter. First, let me clarify what kind of pumpkin I am talking about. It’s not the sugar-filled, half-pumpkin half-squash canned stuff you find at the grocery store. I’m talking the real deal here!
The pumpkins I’m talking about are the homegrown ones you see popping up at all the Farmer’s Markets or may even have growing in your homestead garden. Even the big, fat orange ones you see outside the grocery stores are fine! Your chickens don’t care if they aren’t eating pumpkin pie filling, they like the whole pumpkins just fine!
But if there are so many ways to cook, bake, and decorate with pumpkins, why give them to your chickens instead? Here’s why!
Benefits of Pumpkin:
- Vitamins & Minerals– Pumpkin is full of vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients that add to a chicken’s diet rather than compromise the nutrition a chicken receives from its daily feed ration.
- Hydration– Pumpkin is a very hydrating vegetable as it is about 95% moisture.
- In Season Treat– Feeding your flock a seasonal diet can help keep them healthy in harmony with the seasons. And, since pumpkins are in season during the fall, they are a fairly economical treat to buy or harvest for your flock.
- Easy to Grow– Pumpkins are fairly easy to grow on the homestead! You can pumpkins for both you and your flock. Plus, the whole plant is edible for chickens!
- Pumpkin Seeds– The seeds of a pumpkin contain beneficial properties for preventing and controlling internal parasites.
- Healthy Boredom Buster– Pumpkins work as great boredom busters! They are both healthy (won’t make your flock fat) and time consuming for chickens to work on eating the whole pumpkin.
- Natural Supplement– Pumpkins can be considered a natural supplement for your homestead flock. Use pumpkins as a natural parasite preventative and to get your flock in tip-top shape for winter.
I love giving my flock natural supplements to keep them healthy and pumpkin is just one of the many that I use on the homestead! My Homemade Feed Supplements post contains detailed information about how I decide what supplements to use when and how to properly use them.
Nutritional Benefits of Pumpkin for Chickens
The main reason I give my flock pumpkin is because of all the vitamins and minerals that pumpkin contains. Not only does it contain vitamins and minerals, but it also has many other beneficial properties for keeping chickens healthy.
Please note that all of these benefits are specifically for pumpkin flesh. Pumpkin seeds have other benefits, but they are also higher in fat than pumpkin flesh. We’ll talk more about pumpkin seeds in a minute.
Vitamins in Pumpkin:
Vitamin A- This vitamin is not found directly in pumpkin, rather, it is found in the form of beta-carotene. Once in the body, beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A. Vitamin A helps with cell health, immune system health, and mucus membrane health. Mucus membrane health is especially important for preventing infections in chickens. One sign of a vitamin A deficiency is the presence of frequent blood spots in a hen’s eggs. Vitamin A also helps with the creation of white blood cells which fight infections.
Vitamin C- Chickens synthesize their own vitamin C within their bodies. However, high stress, dealing with illness, or diet deficiencies can lead to the need for supplemental vitamin C. Pumpkins are a great source of natural vitamin C that can be utilized by chickens.
Vitamin E- This vitamin helps boost the immune system which in turn, helps ward off illnesses.
Dietary Nutrients in Pumpkin:
Potassium- Potassium is an important mineral for breeding hens. It helps with proper chick development in hatching eggs and aids with building strong eggshells.
Cucurbitin- The seeds of the vegetable in the genus Cucurbita are well known for their acidic coating of cucurbitin. Cucurbitin paralyzes roundworms and tapeworms.
Fiber- Pumpkin is very high in fiber. Fiber helps keep the digestive system running properly. Many times source of dietary fiber can be hard for chickens to digest. Pumpkin fiber happens to be an easier fiber for poultry to digest.
Low in Fat- Pumpkin is one fall treat that contains many health benefits without being high in fat. While some fatty supplements in a chicken’s diet are okay, too many can lead to health issues. Other foods in a chicken’s diet usually provide sufficient fat in the diet.
Other Nutrients- Along with all the benefits listed above, pumpkin also contains some amounts of calcium, iron, vitamin B6, , magnesium, and zinc.
Are Pumpkin Seeds a Natural De-Wormer?
I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons why I give my chickens pumpkin is because the seeds can be used as a de-wormer. I am not a firm believer in this principle, but hang with me. Why do I not believe that pumpkin seeds can be used as a de-wormer? Simply because there is not enough research to prove it.
Why is there not enough research? Simply because the commercial poultry industry has no use for de-wormers, even non-natural ones (and that’s because their chickens are raised in non-natural environments). However, homestead chicken keepers who raise their flocks in a natural environment may need to deal with internal parasites.
I am a firm believer in the fact that pumpkin seeds contain anti-parasitic properties. The seeds of many squashes are coated in a substance called cucurbitin. Cucubitin is a form of seed protection, but it also contains anti-parasitic properties.
The Facts About Pumpkin Seeds and Worms:
- Pumpkin Varieties– Different varieties of pumpkins and squash have different levels of cucurbitin on their seeds.
- Paralyzes Worms– When present in significant amounts, cucurbitin can paralyze worms, which can than be expelled.
- Worms are Always Present– Chickens who free-range more than likely have a small amount of worms in their digestive tract. This population of worms should be kept in check by the good micro-flora and other beneficial bacteria within the chicken’s gut.
- When Worms Become a Problem– However, when the good micro-flora and beneficial bacteria in the gut are out of balance or get altered, the worms can proliferate and cause a worm overload.
The problem arises with these facts because it is not yet known how much cucurbitin is needed to thoroughly take care of a worm overload. To add to the unknown, we don’t know how much cucurbitin is on specific types of seeds. The different varieties of pumpkins and squashes have different levels of cucurbitin.
Can I still use pumpkin seeds to prevent worms?
Yes! I still use pumpkin because of its anti-parasitic properties. However, I do not rely on pumpkin seeds to take care of worm overloads, nor do I use them by themselves. Pumpkin can be combined with a variety of other anti-parasitic supplements that help promote a healthy gut.
Here are a few natural supplements to use in conjunction with pumpkin:
- garlic- garlic is naturally anti-parasitic and may be more effective than any of the other natural supplements I list here
- nasturtium- this herb is known to help with worm overloads
- dandelion- a bitter herb that helps move things through the digestive system
- carrots- have mild anthelmintic properties (worming properties)
- wormwood- be careful with this herb, it is debated on whether or not it should be used with poultry
One all natural de-worming product that I trust and have seen work effectively is this Worm Balance Tonic. It contains wormwood, mugwort, and black walnut herbs. For more information on natural worm preventatives to use on the homestead, check out this list of Natural Wormers for Chickens.
How to Use Pumpkin for Chickens
I am not a homesteader who stocks up on pumpkin to use all year round. Of course, you certainly can, and pumpkins are fairly easy to store for a prolonged period of time. My reasoning is, 1) I don’t want to store lots of pumpkins 2) I like to use supplements and treats that are in season. So, I mostly give my chickens pumpkin during October, November, and sometimes into December.
One thing I might note is that I also use zucchini (also in the Cucurbita genus) similar to how I use pumpkins for my chickens. When it is in season, my flock gets a zucchini almost every day!
But back to pumpkins, there are several ways I use pumpkin for my homestead flock:
#1. Using Pumpkins as a Chicken Treat
I usually buy a few pumpkins at my local Farmer’s Market to decorate my front porch and the chicken coop with during the fall. Once I am done using the pumpkins as decorations, they become chicken treats! I put the whole pumpkin in my flock’s enclosure and let them chow down. One big pumpkin usually lasts a few days. It works as a great boredom buster! When they finish one pumpkin, I replace it with a fresh one.
Don’t want to give all that precious pumpkin to your flock? That’s okay! When I bake up pie pumpkins I always give my flock the seeds and skin after I have removed the flesh for cooking and baking. From my observations, my flock seems to like the cooked seeds and skins better than fresh, whole pumpkins! However, the whole, uncooked pumpkins have more benefits for them, so they still get those too.
Once all of my fall pumpkins are used up, that’s it. Pumpkin season is over and I move on to different winter treats.
#2. Using Pumpkins as a Natural Supplement
Supplements are different than treats. When you use pumpkin as a supplement, you are using it with a specific purpose in mind. Much like you might take a supplement pill before eating a meal to help with digestion. The main way I use pumpkin as a supplement for chickens is, of course, for internal parasite prevention and control.
Unlike most other supplements, I do not measure out pumpkin. I do not have a specific ‘recipe’ that I follow as a de-worming regime. When I do see a worm issues arise, I use the Worm Balance Tonic, otherwise I use these techniques as a preventative:
- 10 Day Administration– Make sure the chickens have access to pumpkin for an entire week or up to 10 days. That means a whole pumpkin in their enclosure at all times during that period.
- Supplement the Pumpkin– At the same time, I also offer other anti-parasitic supplements. Putting crushed garlic in my flock’s water is a weekly routine for me.
- Make a Potent Mix– During that one week period, mix some cooked pumpkin flesh with raw pumpkin seeds, carrot shavings, anti-parasitic herbs, blackstrap molasses, and crushed garlic. Serve this to your flock once or twice during that week.
As with all supplements, use these techniques with moderation. You shouldn’t do the pumpkin regime for more than 10 days and not more than once during the fall. Periodic servings of pumpkin as treats are fine throughout the fall though.
Note:
This is not a guaranteed treatment for worm overloads. When I do notice that some of my flock members are suffering from a worm overload, I use the Worm Balance tonic because it has proven to be effective for my flock. Keep in mind, worm overloads often occur because a chicken’s gut got out of balance due to stress, disease, or illness, not because it consumed too many worm hosts.
Now that you know about all the amazing benefits of pumpkin for chickens, you can start supplementing this versatile vegetable into your homestead flock’s diet! Raw pumpkin, cooked pumpkin, carved pumpkin, or pumpkin seeds, whatever you’re flock gets is sure to benefit them. Healthy fiber, essential nutrients, and anti-parasitic seeds are just a few reasons why I love giving my homestead chickens pumpkin!
There are many other ways you can help your flock stay healthy through the winter by managing their diet. My ebook on Winter Chicken Keeping also covers some simple changes you can make in your flock’s diet over the winter to help them stay healthy. And, for regular tips on how to raise your flock like a modern pioneer, make sure you join our modern pioneer newsletter community!
by Alexa
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