MixedFlock23
Songster
Hello! Story time! 
Today I had a mild freak out session when the prop planes flew over our yard and dropped pellets over our entire half acre as well as the adjacent fields and several of my neighbors’ yards. I called the airport, farm bureau, dept of ag, the neighbor whose sister owns the fields & rents them out to farmers, and the sheriff (after the airport told me there was someone who called the sheriff & filed a report about being pelleted and asked if I was the one who called)— but no one could tell me what the white nerd candy-like pellets were!
(Even if I brought them a sample)
The Sheriff’s dept did follow up with the first call. (I don’t know which neighbor called them before me with complaints that their house & porch were covered, but I’m thankful because it helped me get a lead.) The sheriff’s dept gave me the business number of the pilot who flew over today. The pilot was really nice & apologized for the overspreading & assured me that is was a fertilizer (so my cats, chickens, raised beds, and flower garden will be okay). I have found a handful of the pellets on the sidewalk leading to the coop/run. Our run is only covered with bird netting, so pellets have fallen through. I quickly found two pellets in the run… but it had been over an hour after the planes flew over before I walked outside and saw pellets on the porch, sidewalk, trampoline, etc. I didn’t look for any other pellets in the run as I was too concerned with trying to find out what it was. (& my kids were gathering the chickens into the coops) Tonight it began to rain & the pellets are dissolving. I’m not sure if more pellets were in the run & were eaten or if only a few fell in there & were ignored by the chickens.
The pilot said the product is fertilizer— specifically urea ammonia sulfate. Is there an egg withdrawal on this? I guess that’s not the correct way to ask that—but are the eggs okay to eat? I’m going to personally eat the eggs, but I wasn’t sure about giving the eggs away to friends & neighbors this week (or for how long) if there’s a need to wait. If the run got as many pellets as the porch & sidewalk then I’d guess each chicken many have eaten a dozen pellets AT MOST if they liked the taste. (I have 32 chickens & the run is about 1250 sq ft counting under the coops which wouldn’t have pellets there. I’m seeing about 2 pellets per sq ft out closer to the field (in my raised beds on the weed barrier) and 1 pellet every 2 sq ft on my porch which is by the coop/run. Maybe they didn’t eat more than one each because they taste bad (according to my sixth grader who licked one just to find out
). I really don’t know. I can’t find anything online either. I’m glad my chickens weren’t free ranging and were penned & had way less access to these raining pellets.
Such a stressful few hours today!!
Posting the entire saga to hopefully help the next chicken tender who doesn’t know what planes may drop on their chickens! (I also learned that fungicide & insecticide comes next from the planes and the herbicides are sprayed directly on crops by the tractors around here. I’ve used neem oil on bugs in my garden so I guess (& hope) the sprays go only on the crops not my yard.) We’ve lived here seven years (had chickens for six) and this is the first issue we’ve had of this kind.
This was the closest type story I could find:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...izer-when-can-we-eat-their-eggs-again.191167/
Any egg eating advice welcome!
Today I had a mild freak out session when the prop planes flew over our yard and dropped pellets over our entire half acre as well as the adjacent fields and several of my neighbors’ yards. I called the airport, farm bureau, dept of ag, the neighbor whose sister owns the fields & rents them out to farmers, and the sheriff (after the airport told me there was someone who called the sheriff & filed a report about being pelleted and asked if I was the one who called)— but no one could tell me what the white nerd candy-like pellets were!
(Even if I brought them a sample)
The Sheriff’s dept did follow up with the first call. (I don’t know which neighbor called them before me with complaints that their house & porch were covered, but I’m thankful because it helped me get a lead.) The sheriff’s dept gave me the business number of the pilot who flew over today. The pilot was really nice & apologized for the overspreading & assured me that is was a fertilizer (so my cats, chickens, raised beds, and flower garden will be okay). I have found a handful of the pellets on the sidewalk leading to the coop/run. Our run is only covered with bird netting, so pellets have fallen through. I quickly found two pellets in the run… but it had been over an hour after the planes flew over before I walked outside and saw pellets on the porch, sidewalk, trampoline, etc. I didn’t look for any other pellets in the run as I was too concerned with trying to find out what it was. (& my kids were gathering the chickens into the coops) Tonight it began to rain & the pellets are dissolving. I’m not sure if more pellets were in the run & were eaten or if only a few fell in there & were ignored by the chickens.
The pilot said the product is fertilizer— specifically urea ammonia sulfate. Is there an egg withdrawal on this? I guess that’s not the correct way to ask that—but are the eggs okay to eat? I’m going to personally eat the eggs, but I wasn’t sure about giving the eggs away to friends & neighbors this week (or for how long) if there’s a need to wait. If the run got as many pellets as the porch & sidewalk then I’d guess each chicken many have eaten a dozen pellets AT MOST if they liked the taste. (I have 32 chickens & the run is about 1250 sq ft counting under the coops which wouldn’t have pellets there. I’m seeing about 2 pellets per sq ft out closer to the field (in my raised beds on the weed barrier) and 1 pellet every 2 sq ft on my porch which is by the coop/run. Maybe they didn’t eat more than one each because they taste bad (according to my sixth grader who licked one just to find out
). I really don’t know. I can’t find anything online either. I’m glad my chickens weren’t free ranging and were penned & had way less access to these raining pellets.Such a stressful few hours today!!
Posting the entire saga to hopefully help the next chicken tender who doesn’t know what planes may drop on their chickens! (I also learned that fungicide & insecticide comes next from the planes and the herbicides are sprayed directly on crops by the tractors around here. I’ve used neem oil on bugs in my garden so I guess (& hope) the sprays go only on the crops not my yard.) We’ve lived here seven years (had chickens for six) and this is the first issue we’ve had of this kind.
This was the closest type story I could find:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...izer-when-can-we-eat-their-eggs-again.191167/
Any egg eating advice welcome!
