The Great Chicken Pumpkin Carving Challenge

Day 162 of 365

Ron makes fun of me when I do my best to follow social media trends with my chickens, but I don’t let that stop me. If I like something, I’m going to do it. And the chicken pumpkin carving thing going around social media seems like a great idea to me because a) it’s adorable and b) pumpkin is a natural worm preventative for chickens. Please note it is not an official de-wormer; it just helps prevent overloads. That’s probably a lot of information for those who are not chicken people.

Anyway, I read through other posts to see what you had to do. You just get it started, let your chickens work their magic, and you end up with a monstrously carved pumpkin–handmade (well, beak made) by chickens.

I got a fantastically giant pumpkin at a local grocery store the sells local farm food, and this morning, I made my cuts. You have to get the chickens going in the right direction, of course. While I was making these cuts, Ruby hollered at me the whole time. I was in the spot where I always cut up watermelon before everyone gets a watermelon treat, and I think she was upset I was not cutting up watermelon. I threw her a little chunk of pumpkin. She continued to holler at me while the rest of the flock, being the good chickens they are, watched from the other side of the fence.

I put the seeds in the eyes, took some pictures, and left. Mostly, all the chickens seems a little suspicious of this giant pumpkin. Later, I got a message from a friend who writes for the local newspaper. She wanted to know if I would make a video of my chickens in action for an article she’s writing about the great chicken pumpkin carving challenge. I told her I would do my best.

When I got home tonight from a long afternoon of being cello mom, I took a flashlight out to the chicken pasture to see what they had done. They did some pretty good work today. I’ll have to share pictures and keep you posted. Let’s see what our flock can do.