3 pullets died - lead paint poisoning?

[opihiman911]

We have been in the process of remodeling our old 1940 plantations style home and have been scraping and chipping old pain off the exterior. We have been very careful to not work around our kids and clean up after ourselves as best as we can. We have tested the old paint and found it to have lead in it. In our past remodels after we were done and all cleaned up we would retest various surfaces and found them to be lead free after cleanup.
The other day we were working on the particular side of the house where our chicken normally hang out when they are freeranging. We were outside chipping away with the chicken wandering around. I never saw them get close to the house and scavange close to the house, but that doesn't mean they didn't. On the third day of working on that side of the house I went to let the girls out and I noticed one of our 4 month of pullets was dead under the roost. I couldn't find anything wrong with her. The next day we found another 3month old pullet dead under the roost, same thing no obvious injuries. Today I went out to let them loose again and again I found another 3 month old dead under the roost.
It dawned on me that all this started after we were working on that side of the house scraping paint. Could this be acute lead poisoning? I've looking throught the roost dropping on the side that the young pullets hang and didn't find paint chips in their poo. I've got them locked up for now, but I'm a little worried. What about the older hens and their eggs that we eat?
I got the DW going down to the store and get another lead testing kit and I'm going to try and test their poo and some of the eggs to see if they have lead in it, but I'm not sure if there will be high enough concentration in it to register.
Being both the DW and I are medical professionals and know the dangers of lead paint so we have always been extremely careful when doing projects and have been doing so sucessfully as the whole family has been tested for lead a couple times and all came up negative.
Can acute lead poisoning kill young pullets in a couple days? if so, other than not letting the freerange for now, anything else I can do? What about future eggs production and eating?

Aloha,
Cory

 

[threehorses]

I'd more suspect lead poisoning over time. You should have your ground checked if you have chickens on it (and for your own health) as olod houses and old neighborhoods sometimes have high lead amounts in the ground from the paint over time. Testing the soil (and possibly necropsying the birds) is the only way to tell for sure.

Also consider heat - Is it very hot three? They're dying on the roost - is the coop predator proof? Any marks on the bird? Are they all roosting at night?

Do you have three month old birds in with the older birds? (This might be the issue, too, as they should be separate til about 4-5 months because of different stages in their immune development - and vastly different diets).

Were the babies eating exclusively growing feed, not layer? Do you have other babies? If so, check them - are they mormal?

I suspect something other than the paint - maybe something they're eating when they free range. Any compost? Mushrooms? Fallen fruit/berries/veggies? Kitchen wastes? Any chances that they got into any wet food, or anything mildewed? Do they have lots of cool spots, more than one watering station, more than one feeding station so that they don't have to go near the hens?

What feed exactly are you feeding, including all treats and supplements, including the oyster shell and grit I assume they're getting as you have layers.

Are the droppings normal? Have they been wormed?

 

[opihiman911]

The young ones have been raised by their momma inside the main coop. I have always done that in the past, the mom takes care of any bullies and I've never had any problems. In fact I have less problems raising them in the coop by their mom with the others that i did when I hand raised them and introducted them later. I haven't lost a momma raised chick to pecking or bullying yet as compared to several injuries and deaths when trying to introduct hand raised ones.
They are all eating purina general poultry (chicken/duck) feed with oyster shell on the side. I only have a choice of the general purpose, grow & layer feed over here. I haven't seen the babies eating the oyster shell. They get all kinds of kitchen vegi scraps and weeds from the garden (pesticide free) as I have always given them. I have no new plants or weeds that I noticed in their fenced yard. My yard always had fallen fruit that they eat, some of it fresh some of it rotting, never been a problem in the past. I checked their feed and it isn't molds and doesn't smell funny or musty
In looking in their poo it all seems normal, I check out their side of the roost and didn't see any paint chips or worms in it. I have never had problems with worms here and have never wormed any of my chickens.
It has been hot and humid here, but no more that usual. They have lots of trees and bushes for shade when they freerange. Their roost and house is all open air and well ventilated. I live in Hawaii so I don't have to worry about cold weather and protecting them. Also we don't have the kind of predators you have on the mainland. The only predators here are dogs and cats and none of the dead chickens had any wounds on them.
All the hens roost at night. The youger ones have one they congergate to, and the older ones have another seperate higher roost. For the most part they don't interact much. I have never seen any of the older ones bully and chase them away from the food or water. When they were little, their moms would take care of them and stop any bullying or chasing from food. All the babies get their fair share of treats each morning when I throw if over the fence. All and all I have pretty much harmony in my coop with 4 differnt aged batches of hens with 1 roo.
All the other babies and hens seem normal, eating and drinking normal, getting normal amount of eggs. I caught a couple of the babies and they seem healthy. The dead ones seems healthy also before they died, cruising the yard like normal, go in the coop and roost at dusk, wake up in the morning and they fell off the roost dead.
I tested their poo for lead but didn't detect anything, but I'm not sure if I would or not if it was in such minute quantities already processed.

Cory