feeding chickens hot peppers

[dusty48]

i;ve been a member for a while, i recall someone stating they fed their chickens hot peppers or adding hot sauce to the water to help aid in egg laying. could someone please respond to this , i don't think i'm going crazy. my chickens have slowed way down, and i realize it is the fall of the year but would like to increase their laying without feeding them laying mash for a while.

does anyone else out their have chickens and not have electricity to keep the waterers from freezing? my chickens are up on a farm which has not way to get electricity, and last year we had to pack water twice daily. can you use some kind of solar panel to heat. i have no knowledge of this so any help would be appreciated

thanks bonnie

 

[oberhaslikid]

I grow my own cayenne peppers .Then I dry them on strings.Once dry I grind in the blender to a powder. I save in containers in the barn and add to the feed as I mix the feed in the feed bin.Not all the time maybe once a month or when I remember.So they would get it for a week out of a month.
I do not have electric to my hen house unless I run an extension cord.It takes about 5 to get there.I did make a water heater box last year that was great but I dont like running the cords that far on the ground.
I was talking Dh into building this.I think were gonna try this and run it into the water heater box.
http://www.coloradowindpower.com/page.php?26

 

[elmo]

Chickens would get vitamins from peppers, but I wonder how this would help them increase egg production, since eggs are primarily protein and fat.

 

[cybercat]

It's an old wifes tale. The only things that will increase production is protien, spring time and longer days. One can up their protien to help kick start their chickens. After and during a moult this works the best but will work any time.

 

[redhen]

The peppers are a natural de-wormer...

 

[3goodeggs]

And I have been throwing them into the compost. I have pickled hot peppers all summer and toss the seeds away. I was afraid a craw full of seed would hurt them. The oil doesnt hurt their insides? I know the dog that ate them out of the compost was really sorry he did.
I try to feed them as much vegitation as I can, and hated tossing buckets of seed into the hole in the ground.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
I read about this the other day. Capsaicin, which is what gives peppers their heat, bothers mammals but not birds. That's why you see wild bird seed with cayenne mixed in to deter squirrels, but the birds still like to eat it.

In the wild, birds eat the peppers and poop out the seeds far away, helping the plant propagate itself.

 

[bukbugack]

Quote:
I read about this the other day. Capsaicin, which is what gives peppers their heat, bothers mammals but not birds. That's why you see wild bird seed with cayenne mixed in to deter squirrels, but the birds still like to eat it.

In the wild, birds eat the peppers and poop out the seeds far away, helping the plant propagate itself.

Elmo is right. Wild pepper plants evolved fruits containing high amounts of capsaicin to attract seed-dispersing birds, and repel seed-devouring mammals. I used to grow wild peppers. Some of them were very tough to germinate, so I would soak them in bird poop to get them going. Chickens can eat all the haberneros they want without feeling the heat. As for helping out with egg-laying, I would agree with cybercat: it's and old wives' tale.

 

[kathy jo]

had chickens 3 years they never laid eggs when it got cold out not even with the heat lamp on ,gave them some left over biscuits with Louisiana hot sauce sprinkled on it saturday, got 3 eggs sunday, and one today monday out of five chickens so much for wives tails, try it.

 

[riccischickies]

I'm interested in trying this, do you think any hot sauce or pepper would work?