Everyone knows pigs love pumpkin pie — or maybe hardly anyone knows.
But local pig farmer James Combs says they gobble it up, and he’s hoping to collect people’s leftover pumpkins after Halloween to whip up a big batch.
The pumpkin pies on the menu at Las Vegas Livestock are actually more like pumpkin mush. Combs uses a machine to pulverize the aging jack-o’-lanterns so they can be fed to his pigs and hens.
The pigs go crazy for the stuff, squealing and shoving past the other animals to get their fair share — and more if they can, Combs said.
"They're a lot like us, so they like sweets,” he said.
Combs has been collecting and recycling Halloween pumpkins for about 15 years, getting the idea from similar Christmas tree recycling programs.
“We said, ‘Well what are people doing with their pumpkins? They are probably just throwing them away,’” he recalled.
Combs, whose farm is north of Las Vegas near Apex, said he usually collects about 5,000 pounds of pumpkin. This year, he’s hoping to double that amount.
“I hope people take advantage of it and instead of going to a landfill they go to a good use,” Combs said.
The pumpkins are especially needed this year because the pigs’ normal food source — scraps from Las Vegas casino buffets and restaurants — has been reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many buffets and restaurants have still not reopened.
Combs said it would take his 1,000 pigs and 600 hens a few days to go through all the pumpkin mush.
Pumpkin drop-off sites are open 24 hours a day through Nov. 6.
They are located at the JW Marriott at North Rampart Boulevard and Canyon Run Drive; the UNLV Rebel Recycling Center at Flamingo Road and Swenson Street; the Master Gardener Orchard, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, 4600 Horse Drive; the C-A-L Ranch Store, 232 N. Jones Blvd.; and Gilcrease Orchard, 7800 North Tenaya Way.