Re: [CH] Fotified pets...

Marmot B. Jones (marmot2@ibm.net)
Sun, 9 May 1999 00:15:39 -0400

I raise a few chickens for eggs. I just have a dozen hens. I supplement
their commercial feed with table scraps and things I leave too long in the
refrigerator. Chiles are always included. I was supprised to find they like
chiles, but I don't think birds have the same reaction to capsicum that
mamals do. I use the chickens like most people use the garbage disposal in
the sink. They will eat anything, and especially love meat which is always
highly spiced at my house.

I also use the hens as insect sentinels. My latest endeavour in raised beds,
this year I located the beds inside the chicken run.  I built  1-meter
diameter beds using lawn edging, filled it with topsoil and poultry manure.
After planting the beds  I ringed them with  welded wire cages. The cage is
larger than the bed by a little more than the length of a hens neck, so they
can't peck the plants. The holes in the wire are just large enough to reach
your hand through. The hens have created a kill zone around the beds. No
flying or crawling pest can get past them. The squirrels are afraid of the
hens and other birds stay away too. The squirrels don't eat the chiles, they
just dig them up. The birds, Cardinals especially, love to eat the small red
chiles like Tabasco or Thai .chiles.
----- Original Message -----
From: Brent Leatherman <brent@mail.feist.com>
To: Scott Northup <northups@ohsu.edu>; <Chile-Heads@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 1999 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: [CH] Fotified pets...


> >Do any of you gonzo's feed chiles (or chile byproducts) to yer non-human
> critters??
> >Inquiring minds wanna know...
> >You all behave-
> >-S-
> >
>
> Tried to use pickled Jalapenos to teach the dawgs not to beg from the
> table. Utter failure - they *liked* 'em...;>)
> B
> *************************************************************************
> Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common
> sense, zero brains.
>
>
>
>
>