Pumpkin is supposed to be the best, but cucumbers and squash are supposed to work too. But dont get your expectations too high. There is a matter of dosage.
Cucurbit seeds contain a substance that paralyzes roundworms and tapeworms so supposedly they let go of the intestinal walls and can be flushed out of the system. Its been proven in the lab that the substance works to paralyze them. But it takes a certain dosage for it to be effective. One seed will not do anything. How many does it take to have an effect? Heck, I dont know. How many pumpkin seeds will a chicken eat at one time? Heck, I dont know. Then you have the problem that different pumpkins have different levels of that substance in the seeds. Same with cucumbers and squash. Some are stronger than others.
Chickens and other poultry will grind the seeds up in the gizzard but sheep, goats, horses, cows, or dogs wont. You have to grind the seeds for them to release that chemical. It might help poultry if you crack the seeds so they release the substance in a more concentrated form. Heck, I dont know.
Its hard to find studies where someone reliable has actually studied this. Delaware State did one on goats and found no effect with ground pumpkin seeds. But they also noticed that the goats didnt eat the ground pumpkin seeds. They are picky eaters and ate around them. That didnt prove much except that goats are unreliable and exasperating. I think most of us know that without a university study.
Somebody did another study on lambs and found that in most cases there was a reduction in worm load, so yes there is an effect. But they were guessing at dosage. And they did not eliminate all worms. There was a reduction of worm load in most of the lambs, not all, and in no cases did it eliminate all worms.
If you expect to feed some cucurbit seeds to your animals and eliminate all worms, well youve won the lottery along with Nyboy. I can sell you some beachfront property in South Louisiana at a reasonable price sight unseen considering its beachfront property.
Feeding those seeds to your chickens wont hurt them. Theyll enjoy them. Goats wont, but who wants to please goats anyway? You might get a small reduction in the worm load the chickens are carrying. But dont expect cucurbit seeds to eliminate all worms from your flock. It aint going to happen. Heck, thats one thing I do know.
