Pumpkins are great food for people and goats. They are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Luckily goats love pumpkins.
Previous Years
I don’t remember when I found out goats love pumpkins. It started me asking people around town for their pumpkins left sitting out after Halloween and Thanksgiving.
These were cut up and fed to the goats. The pieces were about two inches square and a quarter inch thick. It was like feeding coins into a slot machine as the pieces disappeared so fast.
Any pumpkins too soft to cut into pieces were broken up out in the pasture. The goats ate the parts they wanted. Some of the seeds came up the next spring and even made a few pumpkins.
This Year
Another goat owner is now collecting many of the pumpkins around town for her goats. I’m glad as I cringe a bit inside watching leftovers slowly rot away wishing I could take them home.
This isn’t because I don’t want to. My goats love pumpkins and are busy eating them every morning and night. They eat close to a pumpkin a day.
It’s because I raised both my goats’ favorite squash and pumpkins last summer. My pantry has so many piled in it, I have trouble reaching the shelves for stored food. The goats will be eating these easily to March.
Eating Pumpkin
My goats don’t get all of the pumpkins and squash. Some of the pumpkins turn into puree which becomes cookies usually.
The goat special squash is a cushaw cross we don’t care for. So the goats do get all of these.
There is the yuxi squash. We generally eat one or two of these. They are big and, as older people, we don’t eat a lot.
Besides, we love butternut squash. These vines were very busy last summer and we will be eating these for months.
My goats love pumpkins and goat squash and butternut squash. I enjoy sharing them with my goats.