Hot pepper oil as Salmonella defense

Audrey McElroy, an assistant professor of poultry science at Virginia Tech, has found that by adding the spicy component of peppers (capsaicin) to neonatal broiler chick diets, their resistance to Salmonella may be increased. The hot seed may also provide another benefit because unlike chickens, rodents refuse to eat it. "Feeding poultry feed to which capsaicin has been added could be very beneficial in poultry houses," notes McElroy. "Rodents love to get into poultry houses where …