chickens ate grass fertilizer!!! Help

[kimmie_toes]

My husband put triple 16 grass fertilizer on our grass and pinned up our chickens away from it. Next morning they had escaped and have been eating it!!! I have since thrown away all eggs layed by my hens for fear they are tainted. Has this ever happened to anyone before? Does anyone know if the chickens eggs will ever be edible again? I'm not sure what to do at this point. Help!!!

 

[kstaven]

If it was just straight fertilizer there is not going to be any long term issue with transfer to the eggs. Most of the fertilzer pellet ingredients will pass through the digestive system without even breaking down. Eggs will be normal in a few weeks. If it had a weed killer in it then it will take some time to get out of your chickens system. Could be 45 to 60 days to pass through the chickensblood stream. If there was any weed killer involved I would be getting ahold of a vet quickly!

 

[kimmie_toes]

Thank goodness! There was no weed killer in the fertilizer. I've been watching my chickens closely to see if they were going to get sick, but they all seem to be doing fine. They have free range on about a half acre and my husband put the fertilizer on 1/4 of that behind our house. We have never actually pinned up our chickens in their pin before until he decided to fertilize the grass. We don't have a top on their pin and those boogers must have flown over the 8 foot fence! They were peckin away at that fertilizer when I woke up. I turned on our sprinkler system and tried washing it on down into the ground, but I think they ate quite a bit of it before I caught 'em. Thank you so much for your help!!! I have been freaking out thinking we'll never be able to eat their yummy eggs again

 

[dlhunicorn]

here is a nice short article by avian vet describing different toxins and the general remedy given for each of them:
http://www.birdtoyoutlet.com/bird-safety/article-household-toxins.htm

 

[kimmie_toes]

They all still seem to be doing okay today

 

[kstaven]

Good to hear. Normal nitrate fertilizer should not be toxic as such. You would not want them accessing it regularly of course. It would burn the digestive system with enough exposure.

As a precaution I would give them some yogurt on their feed. Just to make sure the digestive system stays balanced.

 

[kimmie_toes]

That's a great idea. They'll love it too! My poor chickies. My husband almost slept in the dog house over this!