Pumpkins for Chickens: A Fun Halloween Project

This week's post is a bit late. My feathered friends were not very enthusiastic about an idea I wanted to try. We can call this an epic "Pinterest Fail" or a chicken version of the show Nailed It.

Why Chickens Love Pumpkins

A favorite treat for chickens this time of year is pumpkins. Pumpkins are very healthy for them. They help boost their immune systems, preparing them for the cold winter months.

For the past couple of years, I’ve seen several YouTube videos of other chicken enthusiasts making designs on pumpkins. They let their chickens peck away to create Jack-O-Lanterns. Since this is the week before Halloween, I thought this would make a cute holiday-themed post.

Gabe with his silly face pumpkin.

Rosie with her butterfly peanut butter pumpkin.

The Pumpkin Painting Adventure

On Sunday, I had my son and daughter paint their pumpkins with peanut butter. Chickens LOVE peanut butter! I thought this would encourage them to peck at the pumpkins and create cool designs. Rosie, my daughter, painted a peanut butter butterfly. Gabe, my son, painted a silly face.

Once we put the pumpkins outside, the chickens spent an hour pecking off the peanut butter. That was it! Their pecking didn’t even break the pumpkin's surface. I left the pumpkins out in the yard for a couple of days, hoping they would return to finish the job. They didn’t...

This is the peanut butter pumpkin after all the peanut butter was pecked off. You can kind of see the face....what lazy chickens!

The Fork Scratching Method

After watching so many videos of people successfully getting their chickens to peck designs on pumpkins, I decided to scrape the pumpkin with a fork. I made a traditional Jack-O-Lantern design.

The chickens surrounded me while I worked. They watched my every move, with the scent of fresh pumpkin in the air. Do you know how many chickens I got to peck my Jack-O-Lantern after scratching it?

ONLY TWO! Don’t my chickens know this was supposed to be an easy, fun, and delicious project? They must not enjoy craft projects like I do.

I painted my freshly scratched pumpkins AGAIN with peanut butter. Then, the flock came running to check out their "new" pumpkins.

Success!!! Nailed It!

The Morning After

I let them graze on the two pumpkins for the rest of the afternoon. The next morning, I went outside to see what the chickens, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and all my other woodland friends had done to the pumpkins throughout the night.

And this is what I found...

Pumpkin 1: I would have preferred Rosie's beautiful butterfly, but this pumpkin didn't turn out too bad.

Pumpkin 2: I think Gabe will consider this similar to his original silly face.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this pumpkin project was a fun attempt to engage my chickens. While it didn’t go exactly as planned, it was still an enjoyable experience. Chickens can be unpredictable, but that’s part of their charm.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly