There is an old wives tale that if you give the hens hot peppers, fresh, red pepper flakes or cayenne to kick start laying, or to get them to return to laying. Don't know if it works but it won't hurt them.DH told me that onions and garlic make the eggs taste bad so I never gave them any. I think I will for sure now seeing as we have 15 hens laying and getting 3-5 eggs a day is making me crazy.