Chickens eat more than just feed, but not everything they eat is necessarily beneficial to their health. Pumpkins are popular food choices among pet chickens but are they healthy and safe? Discover which kinds of gourds can be given as treats to your flock and their health benefits.
Are Pumpkins Safe for Chickens? Pumpkins are absolutely safe for chickens to eat. In fact, chickens love devouring them! Pecking at its rind, flesh, leaves, and seeds makes it one of their favorite treats! All parts of a pumpkin are safe to be eaten but especially its rind and flesh!
Pumpkins are a type of winter squash rich in vitamin A and make an excellent food source for chickens. Like other fruits and vegetables, there are various varieties or kinds of pumpkins; most people feed their chickens the kinds that are used for Halloween carving or pumpkin pie making. These pumpkins may be known as field or canning pumpkins but your chickens won’t care what kind they eat; they will enjoy pecking at and eating any pumpkin offered their way!
Tip for Feeding Pumpkins to Chickens
While chickens will spend as much time pecking at an entire pumpkin you throw their way, breaking it up to make eating it easier is much faster and gives you a great excuse to smash some pumpkins or cut up pieces and spread around their enclosure – as well as provide seeds or pepitas as foraging opportunities!
Michael Richmond, an experienced hobby farmer and backyard chicken enthusiast, suggests using a food processor to finely chop pumpkin pieces before placing in the fridge for later consumption by your birds as treats.