Based on the symptoms you describe it sounds like a toxin. First thought with a neighboring farm was glyphosphate, aka roundup. Typically it is safe for animals to go out and graze after about 3 days after spraying. I don't know if roundup ready seeds have a longer effect or if that leeches into surrounding soil. Anyone??
I am not sure. Looks like it's a marketing ploy. It states it on the bag, but I don't see any listed. I wonder if they are using the terms, but referring to oils and natural flavors in the ingredient list.
Could very well be....you'd have to search for other fine print and dig deep to figure it out.
I can look at my actual bag. But, I don't think there's enough of it to do any harm or good.
I don't have much to offer as far as your girls getting sick. Except maybe it is something in the water? are you on well water? city water?
The field sprayer is rinsed out in the same yard as the chickens. Glyphosate is used in the yard and around the coop throughout the year to suppress undesirable plant growth. It's sprayed in the evening once the chickens are roosting and the chickens are released to free-range the next day. The birds have been fed grain from the fields that are sprayed, for 6+ years. There have been no issues as stated.
Do you have a garden with plants that may be toxic? That can be an issue with livestock in pastures. Are the chicks from the same supply? That can be a factor. Are they overcrowded or exposed to stress. That can be very hard on animal health.
I did not know about the pathway..thanks for that. And I glad to hear your girls have done well for 6 yrs on roundup ready grain. I respectfully disagree with the statement that it is not toxic due to lack of shikimate enzymatic pathway in mammals. There are acute toxic effects due to the surfactant effect while spraying if inhaled leading to respiratory distress (like most chemicals), albeit a low chance of eventual pulmonary fibrosis with repeated exposure..quantity and time. If swallowed or ingested, however, glyphosphate is acutely toxic leading to increased salivation, esophageal inflammation, nausea, vomiting and so on, increasing chance of aspiration pneumonia and possibly drowning in ones own secretions. Personally, if I use glyphosphate I do so early to mid-day to allow proper dry time and do not let my pets or children out to the area for 24 hrs. I avoid evening spraying because, in my climate, we get dew most summer days and that would not allow the product adequate time to dry.The field sprayer is rinsed out in the same yard as the chickens. Glyphosate is used in the yard and around the coop throughout the year to suppress undesirable plant growth. It's sprayed in the evening once the chickens are roosting and the chickens are released to free-range the next day. The birds have been fed grain from the fields that are sprayed, for 6+ years. There have been no issues as stated.
Glyphosate inhibits the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase. It's a key component of the shikimate pathway. Inhibition of the shikimate pathway blocks aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in plants, resulting in the death of those plants. The shikimate pathway is found only in microorganisms and plants, not in animals. Mammals don't have this pathway. Neither do birds. The spraying you see, the majority is water. The covering of the seed might be exposed to the spray, but not the seed itself. A quick search shows mixing directions as 5 tablespoons in 1 gallon of water. I believe a pop amount sprays a football field. Pesticides are expensive, no one wants to use more than they have to. To give context, alcoholic beverages are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen.
Glyphosphate is patented as an antimicrobial agent, for several families of susceptible organisms that cause grief such as toxoplasmosis.
I agree. I will never use roundup or have my animals near it or eating anything that has been sprayed by it. There have been many instances of cancer being linked to Roundup, and my parents who live next to someone who sprays had 2 dead wild birds (robins) on their lawn shortly after the neighbor sprayed. I’ll take the weeds and anything else that goes along with a clean yard.
