Rat Poison

[hitgsd]

My husband put out rat poison in a shed without telling me. I discovered it tonight. My chickens have had free access to the area around the shed. I do not know exactly where he put down the poison. So far no dead/sick chickens. But I have no idea if they have ingested any or ingested a mouse or rat that was killed by it. My question is are the eggs safe? Right now my instinct is to pitch them all, and keep pitching them until I have been able to clean up the poison and let a period of time go by to make sure the chickens do not have any in their system. I sell these eggs not to mention my children eat them so I would prefer not to take any chances. I feel like pitching the husband too. Beyond mad that he did this with out saying a word.

 

[kferg]

My husband put out rat poison in a shed without telling me. I discovered it tonight. My chickens have had free access to the area around the shed. I do not know exactly where he put down the poison. So far no dead/sick chickens. But I have no idea if they have ingested any or ingested a mouse or rat that was killed by it. My question is are the eggs safe? Right now my instinct is to pitch them all, and keep pitching them until I have been able to clean up the poison and let a period of time go by to make sure the chickens do not have any in their system. I sell these eggs not to mention my children eat them so I would prefer not to take any chances. I feel like pitching the husband too. Beyond mad that he did this with out saying a word.

About 8 years ago, I put poison in my garage thinking it was far from the hens.
After a few weeks, one by one, each gal died slowly when their eggs didn’t fully form and got sorta stuck in their bodies.
Bummer.

 

[Charmainehowden]

Just an update for people , my chickens are still looking healthey and well it's the 7th day today

I haven't used poisons for the rats since !
I'm going to buy a safer bait station x

 

[thebanthams]

Gee thats tough question! Hope your chickens looks healthy enough for you to eat eggs!

 

[Tallulah Chicklet]

What kind of poison did he use?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i am wondering, too, what kind of poison. When you discovered it, did it look like some had been eaten? You mentioned still trying to clean up the poison, so i would be very concerned about finding out from DH exactly what and how much was put where, then trying to locate and remove it all.

Also, depending on the type of poison, it could take days to see effects in your chickens or any of the target animals. Some poisons work quickly, some slow, some will just effect the animal that has eaten it, and some will make that dead body toxic. There is probably a phone number to call on the box of poison to get clarity on what you can expect.

For safety sake, you probably do not want to use any of those eggs until you are certain your chickens are not effected.

 

[hitgsd]

Since I posted this I had an opportunity to speak to my sister in law. She is a wildlife biologist married to a wildlife biologist who works for the federal government in animal damage control. He puts out rabies vaccine baits, and poison among many other things. Anyway the chance of the chickens passing on any poison they may have eaten to eggs is zero. The poison does not work like that. And if the hens had ingested any well they would probably be dead. As for eating a dead rat or mouse that would probably not kill the chickens. The poison ( I do not know the name) was placed in the girders of a steel shed, it is probably 20 feet high. So they can not get at the poison cubes, not pellets. But they are still being contained in a pen away from the shed, and they are not happy. But they are all alive and healthy.

 

[The Lazy L]

My husband put out rat poison ... My question is are the eggs safe? ... Beyond mad that he did this with out saying a word.

Well....make your hubby a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and let us know how it turns out.....

 

[joan1708]

Well....make your hubby a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and let us know how it turns out.....

 

[wolt45]

I have read where lots of rat poison has stychnine.Strychnine will not kill birds that are born with eyes open,such as chickens.I hear old timers say that owls will catch chickens and let them season before eating them.the old timers say when you have hens killed by owls you look near by, find the dead hen and rub the meat with strychnine and it will kill the owls.They say owls have to peck their young out of the shell for they hatch with their eyes closed.