Huston, we have a problem.

[Mini Meat]

So, I just went and did a closer inspection of the ground where I plan to grow out my project birds. Looked under the grass and leaves in one area.

It is loaded with broken glass. Why? Hellifino, but it is. It seems to be tempered automotive glass. I can probably rake up most of it but no way I can get it all.

I assume that chickens, being chickens, are going to eat the shinnies.

Do you think this will harm or perhaps kill them. I am not worried about toxicity but are their guts tough enough to handle tempered glass.

Grit and rocks are sharp... maybe? Please?

 

[havery]

Eh, gravel and rocks aren't perpetually sharp like glass. I'd be really worried about it perforating their digestive tracts. Unfortunately, short of removing and replacing all the affected dirt, glass just never seems to ever go away!

 

[Teila]

Hhhhm, Mini Meat, tricky one.

I am not an expert on chickens v glass, tempered or otherwise but have a couple of thoughts.

Out of curiosity I did some research …. Anyone checking my browser history is probably going to think I am plotting evil

"In order for the glass not to be detected in food, it would have to be ground “powder fine”, so fine that when mixed in food it couldn’t be detected. The problem is that glass ground so fine would not pose much of a threat to the GI tract. There simply would not be enough rough edges left to “chew up” GI tissue.
On the other hand, if the glass particles were crushed into fine pebbles, then the resulting shards would have enough spikes and splintery angles to cause micro-tears to the GI tract and possibly cause enough internal bleeding that the victim would die. However, such gritty nuggets would not be palatable and would be detected when the victim chewed the food."
Granted, the above is related to human consumption.

Tempered glass, however, is reported to not be sharp and not cut; apparently why it is used in windscreens and car windows.

If it was me, I would be picking up some of the glass and comparing it to surrounding gravel and rocks; how much sharper is it?

What size is it?
When we wanted to set up our vegie garden we discovered that the previous owner had buried/dispersed a horrendous amount of small rocks/pebbles into the dirt. Over a period of many weeks we sat there sifting the rocks from the dirt .. is that an option?

Another option, if you have the resources would be to dig out the area as much and as deep as you can and replace the dirt with that from another location?

 

[Mini Meat]

Eh, gravel and rocks aren't perpetually sharp like glass. I'd be really worried about it perforating their digestive tracts. Unfortunately, short of removing and replacing all the affected dirt, glass just never seems to ever go away!

Yup, I can't imagine it ever being truly gone.

 

[Rowsdower]

I don't know about tempered glass, but every once in a great while I will find bits of glass in the chickens' droppings. The glass is always worn smooth like sea glass and no one has ever had any ill-effects to my knowledge. Apparently the people that lived here prior used the property to bury garbage over the course of many decades.

 

[Mini Meat]

Hhhhm, Mini Meat, tricky one.

I am not an expert on chickens v glass, tempered or otherwise but have a couple of thoughts.

Out of curiosity I did some research …. Anyone checking my browser history is probably going to think I am plotting evil

"In order for the glass not to be detected in food, it would have to be ground “powder fine”, so fine that when mixed in food it couldn’t be detected. The problem is that glass ground so fine would not pose much of a threat to the GI tract. There simply would not be enough rough edges left to “chew up” GI tissue.
On the other hand, if the glass particles were crushed into fine pebbles, then the resulting shards would have enough spikes and splintery angles to cause micro-tears to the GI tract and possibly cause enough internal bleeding that the victim would die. However, such gritty nuggets would not be palatable and would be detected when the victim chewed the food."
Granted, the above is related to human consumption.

Tempered glass, however, is reported to not be sharp and not cut; apparently why it is used in windscreens and car windows.

If it was me, I would be picking up some of the glass and comparing it to surrounding gravel and rocks; how much sharper is it?

What size is it?
When we wanted to set up our vegie garden we discovered that the previous owner had buried/dispersed a horrendous amount of small rocks/pebbles into the dirt. Over a period of many weeks we sat there sifting the rocks from the dirt .. is that an option?

Another option, if you have the resources would be to dig out the area as much and as deep as you can and replace the dirt with that from another location?

Good info. I have some hope that the glass will collect in their gizzards and not move past that.

I will collect some of the glass later and see if i can manage to cut myself with it. It is about the size and shape of pea gravel.

Large scale removal and sifting is not an option. Rake and scrape is about all I'll be able to manage.

The impacted area is about 30' x30' and is part of my pasture plan.

 

[Mini Meat]

I don't know about tempered glass, but every once in a great while I will find bits of glass in the chickens' droppings. The glass is always worn smooth like sea glass and no one has ever had any ill-effects to my knowledge. Apparently the people that lived here prior used the property to bury garbage over the course of many decades.

That is encouraging. Sounds like it is winding up in their gizzard and getting tumbled and blunted there before moving on.

 

[Rowsdower]

That is encouraging. Sounds like it is winding up in their gizzard and getting tumbled and blunted there before moving on.

Indeed. I suppose this is where I disclose that I wash it and put it in a jar. >_>

 

[lazy gardener]

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I keep finding mirrored glass shards in my chicken run after five years with chickens. When I find it, I pick it up and throw it in the trash. In that five years I've lost a few hens but only one where I didn't know what killed her. (one to a bobcat, one to sour crop, one to a prolapse and the mystery death). Could that mystery death be due to eating glass? Possibly, I never did an autopsy or anything. I think tempered glass would pose less of a threat than mirror shards but I'd still pick up and dispose of any I came across.