Adding cayenne pepper to your chicken's feed is said to have many health benefits, but is this true? Does cayenne pepper help chickens lay eggs? Here is what you need to know.
Many chicken keepers (including myself) will add herbs to their chicken's feed. These herbs have many benefits.
Another common supplement that people feed their chickens is cayenne pepper. Some believe that offering your chickens cayenne pepper will help them lay eggs.
Will Cayenne Pepper Make My Chickens Lay More Eggs
If you ever hear someone claim that their chickens are laying multiple eggs a day, this is simply not true. Chickens usually require 24 hours to make an egg. Sometimes they can lay two eggs a day, but this is very rare!
The chicken's body has to have a full 24 hours to create another egg. Cayenne pepper will not make a chicken lay more than an egg a day.
Will it help your chickens reach the goal of laying one egg per day? There actually isn't much information on this, but here is what I have learned from my own chickens.
I really haven't noticed any change in egg production when feeding my chickens cayenne pepper. The things that are going to have more influence on whether a chicken lays an egg or not is sunlight, water, and feed.
If you feel like your chickens are not laying enough eggs, I would first make sure they are getting enough feed, have clean water, and check if the days are long enough for them to lay.
Should I Be Giving My Hens Cayenne Pepper
We know that cayenne pepper doesn't offer a major jump in egg production, so should you be giving it to your flock?
I think every chicken keeper should be offering cayenne pepper to their hens especially during the winter. Here are a few reasons why cayenne pepper is so good for your chickens.
Improved Circulation
One of the major benefits of cayenne pepper is that it increases circulation. The capsaicin (what makes peppers hot) in cayenne peppers increases circulation throughout the chicken's body.
This is especially beneficial during the cold winter months. This increased blood flow can help ward off the chance of frostbite!
Ward off infections
While cayenne pepper does not kill bacteria, the improved circulation can help break the infection up into smaller pieces making it easier for the chicken's immune system to take care of it.
If your chickens have bumble foot or another type of infection. cayenne pepper can help them recover faster.
A natural wormer
Cayenne pepper may help deworm chickens. The capsaicin in the peppers may also help flush other internal parasites in chickens.
If you are having worm troubles with your chickens here is a great post on natural wormers that you can give your chickens.
How to feed cayenne pepper to your chickens
Here are some ways you can incorporate cayenne pepper into your chicken's diet.
- Add It To Their Feed: Just sprinkle some dried cayenne pepper onto your chicken's feed.
- Add It To Their Water: Adding a sprinkle of dried cayenne pepper to their water is another way you can give it to them.
Those are the best ways I have found to incorporate cayenne pepper in my chicken's diet. If you do grow your own cayenne peppers, you can also feed them to your chickens.
Can I Feed My Chickens To Much Cayenne Pepper
You might be wondering why chickens like to eat spicy food. Well the truth is chickens don't have receptors for spicy food.
They simply can't taste the spicy peppers. So this does raise the question, "can I give my chickens too much cayenne pepper?"
Too much cayenne pepper can cause discomfort, damage to the gut, and stomach ulcers. There aren't many studies of how much cayenne pepper is too much for chickens.
I just give them a sprinkle of cayenne pepper when I give it to them. This generally comes out to around an ⅛ of a teaspoon at a time for my flock of 7 hens.
The good news is that the concerns are more focused on discomfort rather than safety. Just adding a sprinkle to your chicken's food should be plenty.
Does cayenne pepper make chicken eggs healthier
You may have heard that cayenne pepper can change the color of your egg yolks. This is completely true; cayenne pepper can change your egg yolk colors.
While we often associate richer colored yolks with nutrient dense eggs this is not always the case. Chickens that free range or are pasture raised will naturally have orange egg yolks.
This is often indicative of a good diet and these free range eggs can have more nutrients. However, all eggs with orange egg yolks are not the same.
Chickens can lay orange egg yolks by feeding them food rich in pigments. These pigments can be found in cayenne peppers, marigolds, calendula, and other plants.
Many feeds are actually blended with marigold petals to give the eggs a richer color even if they are only fed a commercial feed diet.
So bottom line is - no, cayenne pepper will not make your eggs healthier even though your egg yolks will be darker. Here is how you can get healthier eggs from your chickens.
How To Improve My Chicken's Eggs
Let's face it not all eggs are created equally. Some eggs have more nutritional content and others have less.
Studies have shown that eggs from chickens that are raised on pasture have more nutritionally dense eggs. If you don't have a pasture to raise your chickens on don't worry.
You can also let your chickens free range. This will also lead to better eggs from your chickens.
Chickens that are raised outdoors where they have free access to plants, bugs, fresh air, and sunshine will produce healthier eggs.
So if your really want better eggs, make sure to let your chickens free range or give them access to forage for plants and insects.
Final Say On Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper offers many benefits for your chickens and I recommend you give it to them. Cayenne pepper is not going to make your chickens lay more eggs or better eggs, but it does have other health benefits especially during winter.
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