HELP!!! My chicken ate bullets!!!!!!!!

[mrmojo32]

Hi everyone... This is my 1st post and I registered because yall were talking about a topic I am concerned about as well. My chickens may have eaten bullets too! For about a month I had a dirt pile that I shot into and the chickens always picked and scratched on it. It did not hit me until recently that lead poisoning could be a factor. From what I have read lead poisoning in birds mostly occurs from small shotgun pellets that the birds pick up and ingest or from old coops painted with peeling lead paint that chickens ingest. All my bullest that I fired were 30 caliber so they were much larger. I have now removed the dirt pile to eliminate any chance of further exposure and none seem to be sick in any way.

THe big question is: Should the eggs be eaten? I have only had my chickens for a short while and they will not be old enough to lay until October. What does everyone think?

 

[wenlo]

Quote:
I don't know much about guns, but at a recent wetlands outing I attended, we learned about how many marshes have been contaminated with lead over the years from lead shot. Recently, however, many hunters have moved to steel shot in an effort to protect the environment and the wildlife, or in your case the domestic life. Maybe yours was actually the steel shot, given its new popularity?

 

[mrmojo32]

Wenlow, I am afraid not. I am positive these are lead 30 caliber rifle bullets which are very large. You are refering to shot pellets out of shotguns. Most of these range from extremely small granules to bb size and you are right almost all water fowl hunting now is done with steel shot. Because of the small size of this kind of shot you can see why birds could confuse it with food.

I do not even know if my chickens have even consumed any of the bullets that were in the dirt pile. I just want to be cautious and I figured someone here must have had a like experience.

Thanks.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

live entertainment (or should I say Live ammo?!?)

 

[NWChicks]

If you still have some of the soil just testing that might tell you whether it's safe or not. If the birds were pecking around in lead contaminated soil they most likely ate some of it and are now contaminated even if they didn't actually eat the bullet casings. You can either buy a test kit and test your soil your self or you can hire a company to come in and do it for you. Of course if all the dirt is gone from your property this won't help you!

If you want a definitive answer you really need to have at least one bird or it's eggs tested. From what I've read the yolk of the egg will carry lead in about the same concentration as the blood while the albumen (clear/white part of the egg) will just show trace amounts. I'm not sure where you would have this type of test run but if you call your local department of agriculture maybe they can help you. You could also call one of your local veterinarians and see if they can run a test.

I am no expert, this information was just what I dug up doing a few internet searches. You did get me curious though! I hope you find the answers you're looking for and I really hope you don't have lead contaminated birds!

Oh, and

 

[mrmojo32]

NWChicks....

Thank you very much for your reply. Since my chicks will not be ready to lay until October I wonder if the best course of action is to have them tested now or watch their condition and have them tested closer to October as there will be no risk from consumed eggs until then?

I guess I will make some calls tomorrow and find out what the best thing to do is from a vet or maybe someone at LSU.

THanks again for the help.

 

[mrmojo32]

I contacted the LSU Ag. Center this morning and and spoke to some experts on poultry and exotic birds. I was told that if a chicken were to digest an entire pellet or bullet containing lead they would become very sick in a matter of days. The lead would be ground down by the chicken's gizzard and placed into its body causing sickness such as weight loss, confusion and constant loose stools. She did say that if this were to happen the chicken could be given medecine to clear it up and bring it's health back. Blood test can be done to determine the exposure level. So if my birds do not exhibit any symptoms before laying age in Sept. - Oct. things should be fine as my situation would be of large ingestion at one time rather than a slow exposure.

 

[NWChicks]

Good to know and glad that your birds aren't exhibiting this! I do know in kids who have lead exposure and/or mild lead poisoning they up the calcium and iron intakes for them so the calcuim the girls get will surely help.

 

[April Fountain]

Good luck! Looking forward to a happy ending to this story. Did you try the bread and oil? I will keep that in mind to try in the future.
Aloha