cayenne pepper ? ? ? ?

enola

Crowing
11 Years
Jan 23, 2009
13,143
1,519
378
Irwin, Pennsylvania (Pittsburg area)
Ok, I have two hens that have quit laying, a barred rock and an ameraucana. My game hen is still laying 6 eggs a week. . . .

They are living under the same conditions, extended light hours with a timer, same feed, same water.

I was getting at least 5 eggs a week from the 2 that are not laying now.....

What can be done to 'jump start' the hens into laying again ?

I am stumped !
 
Lots of questions...

How old are the hens?

How long have they been laying 5 eggs a week?

What type of feed are they on?

Are they free ranging?

have they had a physical lately? (Look for mites, or loss of weight, any symptoms of internal parasites?)

Have they been wormed? When and for what?

**Is something raiding the nesting box stealing eggs? Like a snake or rat?
 
barred rock and ameraucana 1 year - game hen 4 years

I bought the barred rock and ameraucana in late January, the shock of moving caused them to stop laying. I put a light on them and they started laying again around February 15, both of them stopped laying 8 days ago.

They are eating Southern States Laying Mash.

They are not free ranging, too many dumb neighbors with roaming dogs in the neighborhood.

They look completely healthy, no mites, good weight, red combs, walking around singing, eating and drinking.

Worming is probably a great suggestion, one I had not thought of.....

Another question, how many hours of light do they require for laying. I am thinking about adding another hour of light on the timer that turns the light on and off.
 
About 14 hours of daylight is plenty for a hen to lay eggs.

You could try upping their protein by either adding Black Oil Sunflower seeds or even getting a bag of Game Bird Maintenance and adding it to their ration of Layer Mash. That might kick start them back into laying again.

Worming might be the first step though...
 
I dont know if the pepper helps but i give it to my birds with their treats. I figure that it cant hurt them it could only help. I also grind my own egg shells and have just tried clam shells and it has really helped the thickness of the shells that they are leaving me..Good luck!
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I get cheap pepper at the health food store and dump about 1/3 of a cup in with their treats every 3 days or so. i dont know if it helping butt my egg production went from 4-5 eggs 2 weeks ago to 11 today from 14 hens. matbe it is just spring but i want to believe
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First of all, I would ask, "Why the lights?" If you are not a commercial poultry keeper then there is no need for lights. Let nature take its' course and the hens will lay when they are supposed too.

Secondly, when on a natural cycle different breeds of chickens lay at different times of the year.

Thirdly, cayenne pepper has nothing to do with laying.
 
enola, cayenne pepper is a good natural wormer. Chickens don`t have heat receptors like other animals so they don`t feel the heat. Mix it in feed til it has a red tint. Pepper in the front, wors run out the back. Repeat in 10 days to get the hatchlings.........Pop
 

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