Here at our mini-farm in Damascus, PA, my 10-year-old donkey, four goats and chickens can’t wait for autumn because they know they will soon be getting the delicious gift of pumpkins!

Did you know that you can use your leftover pumpkins from the holidays to provide livestock with a yummy nutritious treat? My animals love the “guts” on the inside and recently received a gift of 25 carved pumpkins from a beautiful fall wedding. My animals were so excited when they saw the wheelbarrow load and immediately ran right to the fence, impatiently waiting for me to smash them into their pen for eating. They hee-hawed and bleated loudly, jumping around as I broke open the pumpkins in front of them. Daisy the donkey gobbled up the ins and outs so quickly I don’t think she took a breath between each bite.

This is a great way to recycle your holiday decorations; I tend to get multiple pumpkins every fall as it serves as a dual purpose. Pumpkins are a great source of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, plus many more nutritional benefits for both humans and animals. Another added benefit to feeding livestock pumpkins is that the seeds may even help decrease the worm population in chickens.

If you have leftover pumpkins from Halloween and want to get rid of them, goats, donkeys and chickens are huge fans! Not only these types of livestock enjoy pumpkins—pigs and cows fancy them, too. Even if you don’t have livestock, you can smash your pumpkins in the backyard and the deer will thank you later. Something to remember when giving animals pumpkins is to make sure that they are not painted, as the paint could make them sick.

Chelsea Grasse is a 27-year-old animal-lover who lives in Damascus PA. She is in her second year of school to become a physical therapist assistant and works part-time at a nursing home.