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- #21
Hey everybody. I saw the avian specialist. We found out that my other bird as even higher levels of lead in her body.
The avian vet said that the lead could leave the body so long as it did not soak up into the bones. If the lead homes in the bones, it will stay there and continuously leach into the body, making the bird sick later on.
Because Sadhira already got over her symptoms without treatment, he is sure that she is already pushing the lead/metal out. He took an x-ray of each bird, and the one with less lead poisoning has a wad of metal in her gizzard and little pieces traveling all throughout her intestines. Lovely.
Rather than starting any treatments, he wants the birds to eat peanut butter every morning, get plenty of grit with all of their food, and have Metamucil sprinkled on their feed every night. The peanut butter supposedly sticks to the metal. The grit breaks the metal into smaller pieces. And obviously, the Metamucil helps them poop it out. He doesn't want to start chelation unless the symptoms come back. He says they could pop up at any time, or never show again. Because they still have metal inside of them, if we do chelation now, and then more metal goes into the stomach and starts to break down a bit, more lead can be leached into the system, and you have to start all over again. Another option for if the one with more metal gets sick again, is a procedure where the patient is anaesthetized, hung upside down, and then has water blasted in through the mouth in order to flush the metal out orally. And last, there's surgery. Those last two options have a lot of risk attached which is why they're last resort.
Sooo yeah, we are treating our girls' lead poisoning with peanut butter and laxatives. Oh, and I should mention, the grit being oyster shell is important. Lead binds with calcium and neutralizes.
Also, outside research that I did not learn from the vet: study has shown that poultry are more likely to survive lead poisoning if fed a diet high in protein and calcium. Birds that are fed a nutritionally balanced commercial feed are more likely to survive than birds surviving off of foraging and scraps alone.
My neighborhood is full of feral chickens and lead garbage, so surely all of the birds around here must be inflicted.
Thanks everybody! Hopefully this is all. I'll be back at this thread if anybody has to start more drastic treatments.
Oh! And before I forget. The best way to protect against lead if you are like me and are stuck living in a lead-filled area, is to keep as much grass on your yard as possible. Pick out any garbage/metal you see and leave no bare soil. Lay sod if you must. It's like a blanket. I know it's impossible if you have scratching chickens or dabbing ducks, but you do the best you can!
The avian vet said that the lead could leave the body so long as it did not soak up into the bones. If the lead homes in the bones, it will stay there and continuously leach into the body, making the bird sick later on.
Because Sadhira already got over her symptoms without treatment, he is sure that she is already pushing the lead/metal out. He took an x-ray of each bird, and the one with less lead poisoning has a wad of metal in her gizzard and little pieces traveling all throughout her intestines. Lovely.
Rather than starting any treatments, he wants the birds to eat peanut butter every morning, get plenty of grit with all of their food, and have Metamucil sprinkled on their feed every night. The peanut butter supposedly sticks to the metal. The grit breaks the metal into smaller pieces. And obviously, the Metamucil helps them poop it out. He doesn't want to start chelation unless the symptoms come back. He says they could pop up at any time, or never show again. Because they still have metal inside of them, if we do chelation now, and then more metal goes into the stomach and starts to break down a bit, more lead can be leached into the system, and you have to start all over again. Another option for if the one with more metal gets sick again, is a procedure where the patient is anaesthetized, hung upside down, and then has water blasted in through the mouth in order to flush the metal out orally. And last, there's surgery. Those last two options have a lot of risk attached which is why they're last resort.
Sooo yeah, we are treating our girls' lead poisoning with peanut butter and laxatives. Oh, and I should mention, the grit being oyster shell is important. Lead binds with calcium and neutralizes.
Also, outside research that I did not learn from the vet: study has shown that poultry are more likely to survive lead poisoning if fed a diet high in protein and calcium. Birds that are fed a nutritionally balanced commercial feed are more likely to survive than birds surviving off of foraging and scraps alone.
My neighborhood is full of feral chickens and lead garbage, so surely all of the birds around here must be inflicted.
Thanks everybody! Hopefully this is all. I'll be back at this thread if anybody has to start more drastic treatments.
Oh! And before I forget. The best way to protect against lead if you are like me and are stuck living in a lead-filled area, is to keep as much grass on your yard as possible. Pick out any garbage/metal you see and leave no bare soil. Lay sod if you must. It's like a blanket. I know it's impossible if you have scratching chickens or dabbing ducks, but you do the best you can!
