The effect of feeding pigeons with pepper seeds

The turn of summer and autumn is the perfect time for peppercorns. There is a bumper harvest of peppercorns, and there is also a bumper harvest of Sichuan peppercorn seeds. The peppercorn seasoning that everyone wants to use is the shell of the pepper fruit, which is bright dark red in color and full of spicy fragrance. Sichuan pepper seeds are the seeds of the Sichuan pepper capsule, with a smooth color and round shape. After farmers pick the peppercorns and bring them home to dry in the sun, the peppercorns and gray-black granular pepper seeds are naturally separated. After selection, they are bulked into peppercorns and Chinese prickly ash seeds, and the yield ratio is one to one. The market trend of Sichuan pepper is increasing every year, but most of the pepper seeds are wasted. Due to the inconvenient transportation due to the deep mountains and valleys, farmers in the pepper-growing areas mostly use the pepper seeds to heat the kang in winter. Farmers say, "Add a shovel at night, and the kang will be warm in the morning." There are also some areas where the pepper seeds are crushed and used to feed poultry and livestock. Sichuan pepper seeds are inexpensive and of high quality. Using them to raise pigeons can not only turn waste into treasure but also solve the dilemma faced by pigeon farmers due to rising food prices.

1. Key pepper planting areas:

my country is rich in resources. Gansu Province, Shaanxi Province, Sichuan, Chongqing City, Henan Province, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Yunnan Province and other provinces and cities all have many cities and counties (districts) that grow peppercorns. The "Jin Jun Mei" pepper from Hancheng, Shaanxi is the best. Wudu District is the "paradise of my country's famous, high-quality economic forest peppers". The peppers produced here are famous throughout the country for their heavy color, large and round grains, strong aroma, mellow numbness, rich medicinal ingredients and high essential oil content. They were awarded the first prize at the first National Forestry and Fruit Industry Famous, Special and High-quality New Products Exhibition.

2. Nutritional elements of pepper seeds:

The oil content of Sichuan pepper seeds is 27% to 31%, of which more than 90% of the oleic acid is unsaturated fat, and the essential fatty acids (linolenic acid, a-linolenic acid) that cannot be produced by the human body are more than 45%. The protein content is also 18.7%, and the carbohydrate component is relatively effective, making it a good concentrated feed protein raw material. It can partially replace corn and other grains. Sichuan pepper seeds contain various beneficial ingredients such as cellulose, vegetable oil and protein. Under the advanced technology of the new technology, the oil is squeezed from the pepper seeds. The density of the oil reaches 25%, of which the effective amount of pepper seed oil is 15%. Sichuan pepper seed oil is mainly composed of unsaturated fat, of which fatty acids and α-a linolenic acid, two essential unsaturated fats for the human body, account for about 56% of the total oil. Therefore, this oil can be directly developed into high-end health-care oil, and can also be used as the polyunsaturated fat component of edible blended oil. High-purity α-a linolenic acid is separated and obtained from Zanthoxylum bungeanum seed oil, and the obtained α-a linolenic acid products can be used to produce health foods and medicines. The oleic acid components and ingredients in Zanthoxylum bungeanum seed oil are: palmitic acid 7.9%, edible oleic acid 2.56%, polyether 2.11%, fatty acid 24.06%, fatty acid 30.31%, and α-a linolenic acid 33.06%. The unsaturated fat content reaches 87.43%. Among them, the higher content of α-a linolenic acid has important application value. α-a linolenic acid itself has important physiological specificity. It can produce eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the human body, which can be compared with marine oil.

3. Feeding young pigeons with pepper seeds:

Feeding pigeons with pepper seeds (pepper seeds) has a history of several decades in Wudu. I saw young pigeons eating pepper seeds for the first time in late summer of 1966. At that time, my family dried several kilograms of fresh peppercorns given by relatives and friends on the roof. In the afternoon, the peppercorns cracked, revealing the black, oily, round pepper seeds. The young pigeons (ornamental pigeons) were scrambling to eat the peppercorns, leaving the peppercorns all over the roof. Their mother complained as she swept the dried peppercorns. Their father said, "Stop making noise. The pigeons will eat the peppercorns so you don't have to sift them over and over again." After that, I raised homing pigeons at home. I fed them with pepper seeds immediately after the "Cold Dew". The baby pigeons that were fed with "pepper seeds" grew up strong. I have never seen weak, disabled, small, and stupid baby pigeons. Until now, there are still many pigeon enthusiasts in Wudu who use pepper seeds to raise homing pigeons.

4. Tracking of poultry and livestock raised with pepper seeds:

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After eating concentrated feed with pepper seeds, livestock have a good appetite, shiny back hair, are healthy and full of energy. When compared with the respective control experiments, the experimental indicators showed that the weight gain of broiler chickens was 26% higher, the egg production of laying hens was 5% higher, the weight gain of pigs was 21% higher, and the weight gain of beef cattle was 9% higher. Since the pepper seeds are of high quality and low price and the cost of concentrated feed is reduced, the economic benefits during the trial period are very obvious. The experiment achieved the goal of comprehensive utilization of rich and colorful specialty food resources, recycling and putting them to good use.

5. The proportion of pigeon breeding with pepper seeds:

There is no need to crush the pepper seeds when raising meat pigeons. Just feed the "pepper seeds" to the young pigeons. At present, pigeon lovers specialize in selecting peas, sunflowers and peanuts for meat pigeon breeding. At the same time, they should make full use of the characteristics of pepper seeds, which are cheap, good quality and high in nutrition, and use pepper seeds for meat pigeon breeding. Pepper seeds are indeed a good concentrated feed for feeding homing pigeons and ornamental pigeons. Because of the high quality and low price of Sichuan pepper seeds, using Sichuan pepper seeds in pigeon breeding has become a taboo. People who use Sichuan pepper seeds in pigeon breeding no longer mention Sichuan pepper seeds. In fact, the cost of raising pigeons with Sichuan pepper seeds is low. Sichuan pepper seeds contain many ingredients that are beneficial to the growth of pigeons and can be used. The only thing is that the ratio added should be 3:7, that is, 30% Sichuan pepper seeds and 70% grains. Or you can feed pepper seeds to pigeons every two or three days a week. Sichuan pepper seeds are delicious when fed to pigeons. They are round, shiny black and as big as sesame seeds (2-3 mm in diameter). Young pigeons really like to eat them. Mixing peppercorns with grains can also prevent them from being infested by insects.

6. Selection and common problems of pepper seeds:

The best Sichuan pepper seeds are the "July peppers" (that is, those that mature after the beginning of autumn in August of the Gregorian calendar). The "June Jinjunmei" Sichuan peppercorns mature early but the Sichuan peppercorns are not oily. Although the Sichuan peppercorns are good, the Sichuan peppercorns feel light. The pepper seeds collected after "Cold Dew" must be dried and stored. Undried pepper seeds are prone to mold and clump due to their high oil solubility. Moldy and mildewed pepper seeds are never allowed to be fed to pigeons. At present, some grain-producing towns have used "grain dryers". If the dried pepper seeds are air-dried again when stored, they will not be prone to mold and mildew during long-distance transportation or storage within a year.

In 2020, the price of 1 kilogram of pepper in Wudu District is around 65 yuan. Last year, the purchase price of Sichuan pepper seeds was 0.5 yuan per kilogram. At this stage, there are no merchants purchasing Sichuan pepper seeds in large quantities. Feeding pigeons with pepper seeds has the unique effects of invigorating the stomach, promoting digestion and dispelling cold, improving appetite, promoting metabolism, removing dampness and relieving pain, removing insects and toxins, removing wind and arthritis, softening blood vessels, and removing sparganosis. It can also digest and absorb 15 unique nutrients in pepper seeds. Pigeon lovers in pepper-growing areas should make use of their strengths to fully explore the value of "pepper seeds" in meat pigeon breeding, scientifically study the pros and cons of pepper seeds in the breeding of homing pigeons, ornamental pigeons and meat pigeons, reduce the cost of meat pigeon breeding as much as possible, let the nutrients of pepper seeds be used by young pigeons, and gain the approval of pigeon lovers.