Hot sauce DOES increase chicken egg production in the winter!
12-26-18 Hot sauce DOES increase chicken egg production in the winter!
Day 5 of my little experiment!
My girls haven't laid since the end of August. Yeah, that's right, for 4 months! They started molting end of July and into August and slowly decreased in eggs. None of them had a heavy molt, within 2 weeks they all looked great again!
They eat 20% egg layer feed year round. I personally don't feel it makes them lay more then 16%, but I feel like I'm giving them the best I can buy. For their treats, they get a little scoop of whole corn and a 12% sweet feed. When they are naughty and go in my husbands shop to poop on the race cars they are rewarded with some scratch. He actually throws them a cup full to get them out and back on the driveway. Then they all come back in and start attacking the bag like little valociraptors. Yes, having free rangers can be a challenge, you should see my flowerbed!!
As chicken owners we often ask ourselves what we can do to make them lay more eggs in the winter? We know they are resting and will pick back up in the Spring, right? There are all kinds of techniques and tricks. I like scientific reasons, but its always fun to try different things.
Shorter days mean less hours of daylight. Of course that's true but why does it matter? The chickens seem to do better with longer days, like in the summer when they get 14 hours of light. I don't know where you live but here in Oklahoma, we are only getting about 10 hours a day right now. My solution is hanging clear C9's around the inside of the coop. I put this on a timer to give them more light in the morning and a little bit in the evening. 6am to 8pm, then time for nite nite.
There is a huge debate about whole corn. Whether it is slow to digest and raises the chickens body temperature or its slow to digest and it uses their energy. Either way, I do use it as a treat in the winter. We always have so much that we use to fill the deer feeders, so its always on hand. They absolutely love it.
Free choice chicken grit and oyster shells are always kept out in my coop. Some love it, some don't ever touch it.
So that's what I do and guess what, NO EGGS LAID!! It gets pretty disappointing that you give them all your love and spend lots of money on their food and care, and not even 1 egg!! What about their age? I have many 1.5 year olds and quite a few 9 month olds that haven't laid yet. I'm so eager to see my 1st Beilefelders, BCM and Cream Legbar eggs!!
So off to the next thing to try. Pepper. Cayenne. Crushed peppers. You name it, they say it works. Some say it raises their temperature so they don't have to use their energy to stay warm, and can use it to lay eggs. Some say it had Vitamin A, and if your hens are deficient in it, they may not lay. Either way, its worth a try!
I usually put tea tree and rosemary EO in their water. On day 1 I tried some sprinkle generic cayenne pepper. I also didn't think that would work so I came in and made them a dough with hot Tabasco sauce and crushed pizza peppers. I poured a little in all their bowls and they went to town.
Day 2 I mixed up cornmeal, water, garlic powder and hot sauce. I brought it to a boil then added their sweet feed pellets to it. It made a mushy mess, but they ate it up.
Day 3 through 5 I made the same slurry, but just poured it on top of the feed in their bowls.
I check for eggs every single day. I don't even get disappointed anymore, I just expect it.
Today, to much disbelief, I checked my Tolbunt pen like always and OH MY GEE! There was a beautiful little white egg waiting to find me!! It's got to be the most expensive egg I have had since last winter!! I was so excited I ran in the house to show my boys. I totally forgot to check everyone else so out to the big coop I went. BAM! A Cinnamon Queen egg had been laid!! Now, I may or may not have checked all the coops every 30 minutes until dark. There were no more.
So 2 in the same day after none for 4 months. What are your thoughts? Coincidence? I don't think. Maybe a deficiency, yeah I can see that. What have you tried on your girls? I would love to hear from you on any tried and true successes or failures. We need to live and learn!
UPDATE: I stopped giving the peppers on day 5. When i posted this blog. On day 6 I got 1 Cinnamon Queen egg. Day 7 I got 2 eggs! A Cinnamon Queen and an EE egg!!
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| Hot Sauce = Chicken Eggs |
Day 5 of my little experiment!
My girls haven't laid since the end of August. Yeah, that's right, for 4 months! They started molting end of July and into August and slowly decreased in eggs. None of them had a heavy molt, within 2 weeks they all looked great again!
They eat 20% egg layer feed year round. I personally don't feel it makes them lay more then 16%, but I feel like I'm giving them the best I can buy. For their treats, they get a little scoop of whole corn and a 12% sweet feed. When they are naughty and go in my husbands shop to poop on the race cars they are rewarded with some scratch. He actually throws them a cup full to get them out and back on the driveway. Then they all come back in and start attacking the bag like little valociraptors. Yes, having free rangers can be a challenge, you should see my flowerbed!!
As chicken owners we often ask ourselves what we can do to make them lay more eggs in the winter? We know they are resting and will pick back up in the Spring, right? There are all kinds of techniques and tricks. I like scientific reasons, but its always fun to try different things.
Shorter days mean less hours of daylight. Of course that's true but why does it matter? The chickens seem to do better with longer days, like in the summer when they get 14 hours of light. I don't know where you live but here in Oklahoma, we are only getting about 10 hours a day right now. My solution is hanging clear C9's around the inside of the coop. I put this on a timer to give them more light in the morning and a little bit in the evening. 6am to 8pm, then time for nite nite.
There is a huge debate about whole corn. Whether it is slow to digest and raises the chickens body temperature or its slow to digest and it uses their energy. Either way, I do use it as a treat in the winter. We always have so much that we use to fill the deer feeders, so its always on hand. They absolutely love it.
Free choice chicken grit and oyster shells are always kept out in my coop. Some love it, some don't ever touch it.
So that's what I do and guess what, NO EGGS LAID!! It gets pretty disappointing that you give them all your love and spend lots of money on their food and care, and not even 1 egg!! What about their age? I have many 1.5 year olds and quite a few 9 month olds that haven't laid yet. I'm so eager to see my 1st Beilefelders, BCM and Cream Legbar eggs!!
So off to the next thing to try. Pepper. Cayenne. Crushed peppers. You name it, they say it works. Some say it raises their temperature so they don't have to use their energy to stay warm, and can use it to lay eggs. Some say it had Vitamin A, and if your hens are deficient in it, they may not lay. Either way, its worth a try!
I usually put tea tree and rosemary EO in their water. On day 1 I tried some sprinkle generic cayenne pepper. I also didn't think that would work so I came in and made them a dough with hot Tabasco sauce and crushed pizza peppers. I poured a little in all their bowls and they went to town.
Day 2 I mixed up cornmeal, water, garlic powder and hot sauce. I brought it to a boil then added their sweet feed pellets to it. It made a mushy mess, but they ate it up.
Day 3 through 5 I made the same slurry, but just poured it on top of the feed in their bowls.
I check for eggs every single day. I don't even get disappointed anymore, I just expect it.
Today, to much disbelief, I checked my Tolbunt pen like always and OH MY GEE! There was a beautiful little white egg waiting to find me!! It's got to be the most expensive egg I have had since last winter!! I was so excited I ran in the house to show my boys. I totally forgot to check everyone else so out to the big coop I went. BAM! A Cinnamon Queen egg had been laid!! Now, I may or may not have checked all the coops every 30 minutes until dark. There were no more.
So 2 in the same day after none for 4 months. What are your thoughts? Coincidence? I don't think. Maybe a deficiency, yeah I can see that. What have you tried on your girls? I would love to hear from you on any tried and true successes or failures. We need to live and learn!
UPDATE: I stopped giving the peppers on day 5. When i posted this blog. On day 6 I got 1 Cinnamon Queen egg. Day 7 I got 2 eggs! A Cinnamon Queen and an EE egg!!
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| Boil Water and add about 6 tsp of Hot Sauce |
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| Add Garlic Powder |
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| Add Garlic Powder |
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| Add Corn meal |
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| Whisk all together |
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| Add Mixture on top of your preferred food |
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| Tolbunts and GL Polish loving it |
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| Crested Cream Legbar and little friend Hen enjoying their HOT treat |
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| White Polish Egg |
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| Beige Cinnamon Queen Egg |
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| Day 7 |
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