feeding Chickens Black pepper

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
Got a regular size egg from Snow White who has been laying since November 24th. However - I also got a GREEN EGG from our pullet Smokey - her first egg ever. Coincidence? Don't know. But she wasn't laying until I started the pepper and sunflower seeds. I'll have to see if the other two pullets start up too.

That's Smokey's green egg on the right!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/97463_new_years_eve_egg_2011_015.jpg

Another treat of sunflowers and red/black pepper was given tonight.

I've given them a peppered treat each day, but I'm only getting one egg still. The green egg layer hasn't laid again and no one else has started yet. I'll give them treats again tomorrow it I don't see a direct correlation yet.

Today I got my usual white egg and later 1 green egg. I think it's the same chick that laid her egg on new years eve. No new layers yet. They are 21 weeks old. I gave them a peppered treat again today but I think this will be the last time since I don't want to over do the treats.

 

[stormylady]

I'm kinda getting the impression that the pepper will not make them start laying for the first time, they will when their little chicken bodies tell them its time, however once there laying regularly and stopped for a molt and about getting ready to start up laying again it may boost their already mature bodies into laying.

 

[kjpanda]

Results of my own pepper experiment....

I found this thread interesting, seeing as my girls have slowed down significantly. I have ample supplemental lighting, good quality food, clean, fresh water, draft free and well ventilated coop; sans the laying chickens! Only 4 of my 6 were laying, and pretty consistently at that. Most days I got 4 eggs, never less than 3. Then I started getting 1's and 2's and some days a big fat zero. I figured, what the heck, I'll give it a try.

I used crushed red peppers, since I have a ton of them. I buy them in bulk because I LOVE to cook with them. I started on 12/11/11 adding the pepper to their twice a day "special" feeding. They always have food in the coop, I just bring them a bowl of yummy stuff twice a day (oatmeal, crushed wheat, flax seed, milo, grains, meal worms, BOSS, wheat berry, etc.)

At the end of week one I had a total of 13 eggs in 7 days.

At the end of week two, I had 13 eggs in 7 days as well.

At the end of week three, I had 18 eggs in 7 days.

Now I am on day 4 of week 4 and so far I have 13 eggs.

Does it work? I would venture to say it has increased my numbers and y girls seem to love it. Thank you all for the information. I can't imagine how much some of us would struggle if it weren't for this amazing group of BYC folks!

 

[daddy_roo]

You know as the original starter of this thread I would like to thank everyone for playing along...

When I started this thread it was only suposed to be a silly coinky-dink that I made a coment and it came true. then someone made the coment of trying it out. I may be on to something. So I did and have posted my results. I have not given my girls any pepper for a while now and the number of eggs I have gotten has started to drop again. So today I started up again. I gave them popcorn and cyan pepper because I am out of black pepper. WARNING: DO NOT MIX THE CYAN PEPPER IN THE PAN BEFORE YOU POP POPCORN. It has a mustard gas like effect. Yes I am speaking from expirience.

It is a very very bad idea

 

[v.cyr]

well, we stopped the pepper treatment last fri, but we are still getting 3-4 eggs a day... hardly peak production, but at least they are laying... oh, and none of our pullets have actually started laying yet... one of our older hens just laid a smaller egg than normal

 

[BirdMan32]

Quote:
Just ate a bit of Layena! Doesn't taste like eggs to me.

 

[Grumpypantsmomma]

I went out to feed this morning to feed chickens, and I heard someone singing the egg laying song. I have never had morning layers, always afternoon! After 5 days of pepper i have 3 new layers that weren't laying before I started the peppered treats, 1 a brand new layer and 2 of the newbies who are still settling in. I am 3 eggs of an 18 pack shy for the week!

More eggs then I have had in a while!
Not bad for banty chickens that are poor layers and most of them only supposed to lay 1 to 2 eggs at the most a wk. And since i have had them never layed in the winter! LOL! I would say I am happy with the outcome.
I will check again later this evening to see if I have any more but 2 is better then none!

 

[JodyJo]

I have 11 laying girls, only getting 4 eggs a day...3 EE at 29 weeks, not sure if they will lay now or wait till longer days...but I am going to give this a try...

 

[Velvet Hairpiece]

Very interesting thread! Admittedly, I skipped around since it's 20 pages long, but I'm going to give this a try. Here are the stats of my flock, I'll keep adding to the info as I continue on with THE PEPPER EXPERIMENT!

I have:
2 Roosters (BR, EE)
6 Hens (2 BR, 1 EE, 2 RIR, 1 BCM?)

...and yes, they all get along with no signs of distress from being over-roostered.

I am in the midwest (St. Louis, MO area-so we have relatively cold winters but it's been quite warm here coming in at 52 degrees F today in early January) My flock was born early April 2011, and 1 BR and the EE started laying Labor Day weekend, with the others to follow within a couple of weeks. I would get very consistently 4-5 eggs a day! They are great layers! Sometime in November the EE completely stopped laying, I haven't seen a cute green egg since. Then in December I ended up getting one egg a day. Now in January, I think the only egg I got this week was this past Monday or Tuesday (today is Saturday) and that's it.

Now I'm trying to be as natural as possible for these guys, so I don't have any light on them extending their days artificially so that's probably the main factor. But it's just been so nice and sunny and warm for the past week I wanted them to give me more eggs. I just don't want to have to go to the store and buy eggs, we have three left which won't be enough for breakfast tomorrow!

So after reading this thread, I went and got a small handful of gourmet peppercorns (the black, white, red, and green whole peppercorns) ~1/4c. and a few dried red peppers crushed up with my hand on the sidewalk (I have no idea if they are peppers or chiles, a client of mine gave me this dried bundle of them all tied up that she got from the southwest, they're really small, and very hot so I'm thinking they may be cayenne) and they appear to have eaten most of them. I will update any changes I see over the next couple of days and continue this daily ritual as well! I'll probably mix it up with the different kinds of peppers so I don't use all of what I have.

Thanks OP for this long-lost-knowledge that appears to have worked for so many!

 

[Hoofer]

I believe this does work, but may really be related to the chickens water intake. My 6 girls are laying 4-5 eggs a day here in the cold dark North East

I try to make sure they get fresh warm water twice a day. We do not have lights on them and I have found them in the coup roosting as early as 4 o'clock. I think the fresh water is the key and that the pepper might encourage them to drink more. Just a theory, what does everyone else think? By the way I don't feed them pepper but I would try it if their production dropped off.