The annual pumpkin carve and hen feeding was another success. Rather than carve our pumpkins early and risk rot, we carve them on Halloween then take them out to the chickens the next day.

The chickens appreciate the gesture.

Rather than halve the pumpkin for the chickens like I usually do, I had a little fun carving a simple face. I was going for an appalled look. I ran a gimlet through the stem, then used a bamboo stick with the tip split to thread cotton twine through and make a loop to hang up the pumpkin.

During the extra hot heat wave I made my chicken some frozen treats by putting fruit and vegetable pieces in a bundt pan and freezing it. To give it to the chickens I turned the bundt pan over and ran hot water over the metal. The ice ring popped right out!

The bits of fruit left over from fruit salad went over the best. I made another ring with pumpkin, carrots and peas; the chickens ate around the peas. The ring made of banana and cranberry was a huge bust, they barely nibbled it.

I have a melon baller, but I don’t usually use it because it leaves quite a bit of waste. The balls of melon are pretty in the fruit salad, but all the left over bits bothered me.

I was thinking of it wrong. It isn’t waste, it is more left for the chickens! With that in mind, I scooped out the cantaloupe and watermelon happily knowing the hens would clean out the rinds later.

I put out some canned pumpkin for the chickens to see if it helps with the digestive issues that start up when they start laying. (They’ve been laying again for awhile, but a couple still have dirty tail feathers.) They love fresh pumpkin, but when presented with canned, they all but accused me of attempted poison.

I’ve noticed in the fall, when they have a steady supply of raw pumpkin, there are more fluffy butts, and less need for me to rinse them clean. But fresh pumpkin is hard to obtain in the spring and summer. Butternut squash doesn’t seem to have the appeal, though it really seems like it should be a good substitute. After a few hours I went back to check on the status of the canned pumpkin, and they did brave the new preparation and devoured it all. They can’t lick the plate because they’re chickens, but they did a good job trying. See? I’m not trying to poison you!