Hey all..great looking group.
I live in rural VA and have 16 hens (mainly egg, most can be dual purpose). Ok have not been concerned about lead content bc I live on a 3acre mountain plot in a newer (2001) home with no lead paint or old refuse.. however I just realized that we used to occasionally shoot lead pellets with the kids in the back yard where my chickens now free roam... I also feed my bird's baked/crushed shells back to them.. so I'm a bit concerned about lead levels now. I will probably have me and all the kids blood tested.. and My wife is picking up a lead test kit (the kind you paint onto kids toys to test for lead levels and test via color change) and was wondering if I can use that same type of test to ballpark detect dangerous levels in my birds shells (e.g. wash, scrape, brush-test).. or do in need a commercial lab to test it?... What's the recommended lit? 50ppm? I can't really test the soil reliably bc the pellets are whole (in the ground) unlike paint chips which break down and turn to dust.
If anyone has tips/suggestions, please share.
I also love near at work at VA tech university, which has several agg and water test labs.. I may be able to get them test there (they're the ones who discovered and officially reported on the municipal lead pipe incident in Flint MI).
Any feedback welcome..
T.Weeks
I live in rural VA and have 16 hens (mainly egg, most can be dual purpose). Ok have not been concerned about lead content bc I live on a 3acre mountain plot in a newer (2001) home with no lead paint or old refuse.. however I just realized that we used to occasionally shoot lead pellets with the kids in the back yard where my chickens now free roam... I also feed my bird's baked/crushed shells back to them.. so I'm a bit concerned about lead levels now. I will probably have me and all the kids blood tested.. and My wife is picking up a lead test kit (the kind you paint onto kids toys to test for lead levels and test via color change) and was wondering if I can use that same type of test to ballpark detect dangerous levels in my birds shells (e.g. wash, scrape, brush-test).. or do in need a commercial lab to test it?... What's the recommended lit? 50ppm? I can't really test the soil reliably bc the pellets are whole (in the ground) unlike paint chips which break down and turn to dust.
If anyone has tips/suggestions, please share.
I also love near at work at VA tech university, which has several agg and water test labs.. I may be able to get them test there (they're the ones who discovered and officially reported on the municipal lead pipe incident in Flint MI).
Any feedback welcome..
T.Weeks
