Pumpkins and milk production.

Wow! I found a pumpkin patch that wanted to be a Christmas Tree Lot (Lebanon had Cedars, but someone please explain how Christ and pines go together) and scored 1000# of pumpkins as supplemental feed. I've been throwing one big would be Jack-O-Lantern per goat in the manger every day and they polish them off. Every lick is missing by morning. And OMG milk production is up 30% (I don't normally grain my goats except to put some weight on occasionally)! Pumpkins seem to work better than spent brewing grains for boosting milk production, and probably without the hit on the fatty acid profile.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it the extra calories? Parasite killing nature of pumpkins? Some special pumpkin juju? Please share your wisdom or thoughts.

And just for giggles I'm going to try combining spent grains with pumpkins to see just how much milk I get. My Nubian Doe has been producing over two years now. Started out at 3/4 gal and has tapered to +/-1L/day. No grain, no hay, all farm waste feed. -Γ

Pumpkin seeds are supposed to act as a natural dewormer. So if that is true then the goats may have improved health due to reduced parasite load and in turn produce more milk. Not to mention all of the extra nutrients in the skin and meat of the pumpkins.

I just bought three large pumpkins for my chickens and they have already eaten two of them.

Side Note: We all naturally have some level of parasite load (of some sort or another) and diatomaceous earth is commonly used as a dewormer and over all 'health' supplement. A friend of mine gives it to his pigs when he wants them to gain weight. I tried it my self and immediately started gaining weight.

So I quit taking it -- I think I need a few parasites

Last year we collected 3-4 tons from a pumpkin patch. They boost cow milk production, too. We hoped they would spread the seed and we would have a pumpkin patch of our own, but they ate the sprouts And this year the weather blew our chance to collect from that farm

Pumpkin is anti-worm, high complex carb, high vitamin, and water-laden.

My grandpa grew pumpkins and giant squash expressly to feed livestock in the fall and winter.

We don't have enough winter squash in storage to feed us and all the animals, but I suppose I can spare one each week as a treat