My grandpa had told my mother many years ago about the pepper. He said....get a 5 gallon bucket of whole corn...put in one can of red pepper, then cover the corn slightly with HOT water. Throw a towel over the bucket, and let it sit over night. The water will cause the corn to "pop open" And in doing so, will absorb the pepper. Feed this liberaly to your hens. Your egg production WILL increase. This is called...in my grandpa's words..." Burning the moult" I remember when My mother did this several years back....we had so many eggs...we couldnt GIVE them away.