Pumpkins

BAF

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi all, I've got the chance at a load of pumpkins for stock feed. They're fine by all accounts just sat out in the field waiting to decompose or be chopped up by the plough. Just wondered if they had much/any nutritional value for pregnant ewes? They're the right price at £0's and there's plenty of them. It'll be a little bit of rawling hand balling them into the trailer but that's what the kids are for! Might cost me a macdonalds but if they're going to be a good supplementary feed then it'll be worth it.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Hi all, I've got the chance at a load of pumpkins for stock feed. They're fine by all accounts just sat out in the field waiting to decompose or be chopped up by the plough. Just wondered if they had much/any nutritional value for pregnant ewes? They're the right price at £0's and there's plenty of them. It'll be a little bit of rawling hand balling them into the trailer but that's what the kids are for! Might cost me a macdonalds but if they're going to be a good supplementary feed then it'll be worth it.
I grazed my neighbours half acre patch last year and the year before, some whole and some were smashed slightly after I hit them with the quad to break them in half, the ewes ate none of them…….
 

Bogweevil

Member
Hi all, I've got the chance at a load of pumpkins for stock feed. They're fine by all accounts just sat out in the field waiting to decompose or be chopped up by the plough. Just wondered if they had much/any nutritional value for pregnant ewes? They're the right price at £0's and there's plenty of them. It'll be a little bit of rawling hand balling them into the trailer but that's what the kids are for! Might cost me a macdonalds but if they're going to be a good supplementary feed then it'll be worth it.

Cattle wolf down my pumpkins. Used as stockfeed in America I believe. https://extension.wsu.edu/wam/incorporating-cull-pumpkins-into-livestock-diets/
 

Guleesh

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Isle of Skye
We fed the kids pumpkin carving attempts to our tups one year, they did have a little gnaw at them but not really interested and left most of them. Chickens will peck all the flesh out of them and obviously pigs don't waste any at all.
 

BAF

Member
Livestock Farmer
Ah I see. I might not bother then! We've just killed the pugs otherwise they'd have been ideal!
 

BAF

Member
Livestock Farmer
I was thinking of filling the 3.5t tipping trailer with them - pumpkins not chickens - and we've only got 2 hens left. (How that causes me much grief off the wife after spending all autumn out lamping away from home!!!) A trailer load would keep the chucks in pumpkin till they die of old age!
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Chickens?
Friend of ours who likes to do his bit for recycling gathered up 2 bin bags full from his street after Halloween . brought them out and we fed to the chickens, they just leave the hard skins.
Just reread this and should have said the bin bags were full of pumpkins
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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