Leftover pumpkins

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Hpacres440p

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Our cattle have LOVED leftover pumpkins, watermelon, squash. I was looking it up, pumpkins have 14-17% protein and 70% TDN-I'm going to chat with the produce managers at the grocery stores, but has anyone really used them as a supplement?
 
Hpacres440p said:
Our cattle have LOVED leftover pumpkins, watermelon, squash. I was looking it up, pumpkins have 14-17% protein and 70% TDN-I'm going to chat with the produce managers at the grocery stores, but has anyone really used them as a supplement?
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Keep in mind that those numbers are on a dry matter basis, and pumpkins are mostly water.
 
Dave said:
I fed a bunch of them one year. They were raised by extension in some sort of experiment. When they were done they had 4 or 5 big pickup loads fo pumpkins which they gave me. The cows loved them.
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Did you use them as primary feed while they lasted or just a treat/supplement?
 
Hpacres440p said:
Did you use them as primary feed while they lasted or just a treat/supplement?
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It has been 20+ years ago. All I remember is tossing them into the feed bunk and then taking an ax to bust them open. Some of them old girls would be orange clear up to their eyes. I was still feeding hay but gave them more than a treat.
 
We grow a couple acres of pumpkins in our winter feeding area. Harvest the pumpkins we want ( 40 to 50) and let the cows eat the rest in the fall. The cows will eat the leaves and vines too after they've been hit by a frost. We break up some pumpkins every couple of days or run them over when we feed.
 

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