Chili Pepper as pest control

[BikoQnick]

Hey everyone, had a quick question regarding pest control.

I live in a pretty heavily populated area with mostly apartments and lots of raccoon and skunks (a college town) and have been having a lot of trouble with animals getting into the coop at night. We seal the coop up at night, but it seems like rats and skunks are always pushing their way in.

They can't get to the chickens but every so often it really stresses the birds out.

Anyways, to get to my question...

I recently got access to some ghost chili peppers, hottest in the world, and was wondering if mincing a few in a spray bottle and soaking the ground around the coop where the pests are burrowing could have any adverse effects on our chickens. I know that only mammals can taste the spiciness associated with peppers, but I don't know if such a strong pepper could potentially irritate my girls' eyes or anything.

Or even other than that, would that be an effective and lasting method of pest repulsion?


Any advice or experience would be much appreciated by me, my housemates, and of course our 6 hens.

 

[mealworm]

Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, and cayenne peppers are classified as nightshade foods. A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function.

from: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=62

I'm no expert, but it seems risky

 

[theFox]

You'll have fun then mealworm when you come across a posting where the chicken owner actually uses cayenne in their feed mix.

My girls love tomatoes and peppers, red, green, hot, or not.

They also like eggplant provided you peel it.

When we make tomato sauce the girls always get the leftover skins and seeds.

 

[mealworm]

That is great news, I have a ton of green peppers from the garden that we cannot begin to eat!