Cayenne Pepper It Really Gets Those Hens Laying

[MeepBeep]

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[Huehueboy]

Does any one know how much pepper to use or is it a total guys thought now? Tbs per 1lb of food or 2tbs or tps. My hens live the pepper plans that I have they pick at the Bush and peppers.I have some peppers but not cayenne peppers.Will those work.?

 

[mstrickland96]

My chickens haven't been laying hey anything for about 10 weeks now. We have 16 of age hens, -'d are getting maybe 2 eggs a week. I thought molting, but they are back to looking normal and we still aren't up in production. We have supplemental light, because we are in Minnesota. Do you think this might help?? I'm sick of buying their food, and making multiple trips down there a day in the freezing cold, and not getting anything from it!!

 

[azygous]

Try extra light in the coop. Works much better than hot peppers, though chickens do enjoy hot peepers. And it will save a lot of sneezes as the capsaicin aerosols into the air on dust particles.

 

[mobius]

Just added some red pepper flakes (and chopped garlic) to the FF...not to stimulate laying (which would be nice) but because there is likely overall health benefit!

BTW, my six new flock last summer decimated my (very) hot pepper plants (leaves, flowers, peppers etc) before I knew what was happening. Once I got them all separated from the pepper plants (which were NOT in the ground but UP on deck railings) I WAS able to later harvest some peppers after all. Fewer, however. Live and learn.

Naughty chickens.

 

[mobius]

My chickens haven't been laying hey anything for about 10 weeks now. We have 16 of age hens, -'d are getting maybe 2 eggs a week. I thought molting, but they are back to looking normal and we still aren't up in production. We have supplemental light, because we are in Minnesota. Do you think this might help?? I'm sick of buying their food, and making multiple trips down there a day in the freezing cold, and not getting anything from it!!

I feel your pain, mine haven't laid since mid-October) but other than increasing protein with meal worms during their partial molt (which is likely still going on though far less visible), I don't know that anything magical will start them laying at this latitude or in this weather, eggcept increased daylight hours (or possibly supplemental light, which I do not do, nor do I heat the coop). Solstice less than a week away.

I had an overage of eggs this summer. I froze them. In muffin tins. Two medium eggs per tin perfect fit. So I have eggs through the winter regardless. Two days ago I made a perfect tiramisu from some of those frozen eggs. Recipe upon request. Dogs got the whites.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

My chickens haven't been laying hey anything for about 10 weeks now. We have 16 of age hens, -'d are getting maybe 2 eggs a week. I thought molting, but they are back to looking normal and we still aren't up in production. We have supplemental light, because we are in Minnesota. Do you think this might help?? I'm sick of buying their food, and making multiple trips down there a day in the freezing cold, and not getting anything from it!!

How many hours of light do they get? Once you drop below 14 hours the production drops. If they have already molted and gotten a little rest then there isn't much of a reason to wait for eggs. You can use LED lights (they use very little electricity) and put them on a timer (it's important that their day length is consistent) and make sure the lights are "warm" (2700K-3000K) -and not "white" (5000K+). It is the red light spectrum that triggers egg laying, not the blue. People who use those big red UV heat lamps in the winter to keep the chickens laying don't realize that it is actually the red light from the bulbs not the heat. Chickens actually have light sensitive cells in their brains and the red light waives actually penetrate the chicken's skulls. Even blind chickens will lay with increased red light. I think cayenne helps if the birds aren't laying because of worms or there are some suggestions that cayenne works as an antibiotic...but first and foremost the birds need an adequate day length. Some breeds are better winter layers (Australorps) and young birds (that don't molt their first winter) will lay better than older birds in winter but they all lay better with more than 14 hours of light.

Here's a link about lighting:
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/light_inset.html

 

[Abh0622]

I saw a post that said to give your hens cayenne pepper to start them laying and it really works!!!! Went from 1 to 2 eggs aday to 12 to 14 in one and a half weeks. I put one bottle of pepper to two pounds of cornmeal then added water to make moist they loved it.

 

[Abh0622]

So, all but 1 of my 15 hens have stopped laying. I've heard of using cayenne pepper but want to add it to their water supply. I have a 10 gallon bucket connected to pvc with nipples. Any idea how much to use?

 

[its chickery]

It might not be biological. But rats and squirrels hate the stuff. Both are notorious for eating chicken feed and stealing chicken eggs...