November 4, 2022
Every year after Halloween, we collect several tons of left-over pumpkins. The pumpkins make excellent livestock feed, and with their tough outer shell, they keep fairly well. The seeds are extremely high in protein and the pumpkin “flesh” is wonderful filler. The pigs, sheep, and chickens all love pumpkins and will spend the next month eating to their heart’s content.
Overeating can be a real problem for sheep but there’s enough fiber and water in the pumpkins that they feel full long before they get into trouble. Oddly enough, pigs never overeat. They do indeed eat in an overly enthusiastic and rather messy manner – from which the term “eating like a pig” was rightfully coined. Once they are full, though, they will happily sleep it off. Sheep, on the other hand, can die if they eat too much of certain things. Luckily pumpkins are not one of those things!
Usually, all the animals greet me in the morning. I use the term “greet” very loosely. It is in fact more like vociferous complaining than an actual greeting. As soon as they catch a glimpse of me heading their way, they start bellowing as if they have been waiting for me all night. (They really haven’t.)
However, the morning after we deliver the “all they can eat pumpkin buffet”, it’s completely silent. Not one of them greets me or complains. They just watch, lethargically, and completely unmotivated.
The pumpkins should last well into December. So, while our backs might be a little sore for a few days, this coming month of deliriously happy and sedated animals is well worth the effort.