Would Round-Up be considered a Predator?

[True Grit]

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This link will tell you how it affects chickens. As herbicides go Roundup is the only one I would consider spraying around my chickens. It is inactivated by the soil and the Oral Lethal Dosage is high. When I started buying grain, farmers were still using 2,4-D Ester. That stuff'll kill ya. I'm glad they can use Roundup instead. I would still tarp the chicks on spraying day tho.

 

[BlackBart]

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Probably not too far from the truth. Monsanto is a predator and a bully.

 

[Mn]

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Oh, I hear ya'! I've never been this close to someone putting chemicals on their fields so it's kinda got me runnin' scared. If we had pesky plants we loaded up shovels, buckets, and machetes and spent weeks (months, years!) clearing it out.
I just got done reading a book about environmental hazards and it just makes me even more aware and cautious. I read Dr. Mercola articles about Monsato and it's less than comforting....When we moved in here the farmer said he doesn't spray. I guess he meant something else?

I've been meaning to get around to "Food, Inc." but time, time time...

Thank you all! This has been enjoyable to read all the different responses.

 

[jhm47]

I farmed for 40 years, and now rent out our land. The chemicals we used to use were incredibly toxic, and I hated to use them, but it was a necessary evil. Then, Roundup came along. It cost a lot more to buy the seed that was immune to Roundup, and we were not allowed to keep our own seed, but the benefit was incredibly clean fields, increased yield, and the Roundup was much, much safer than the old chemicals, not to mention that it worked a lot better.

We still raise quite a few cattle, and routinely graze them on the leftover crop residues that have been sprayed with Roundup. Have been doing this for about 12 years, and have had absolutely no problems. In my opinion, the people who have these fears about the chemical are ignoring the fact that weeds must be controlled, and that the older chemicals were a thousand times worse than Roundup. I agree that Monsanto is almost predatory in it's business practices, but so are a lot of other corporations.

I would not worry about your chickens. Have the farmer notify you before he sprays, and keep the birds inside for a couple hours. They will be fine.

 

[possumpatrol]

snowflake,

Round-up is not a "strong fertilizer." I do not know if your landscaper is misinformed or what but round-up inhibits the formation of key amino acids in the plant. This in turn kills the plant. Animals do not have the pathways that round-up disturbs in plants.


I would cover my coop while he is spraying and then give it a few hours to dry before you let them out to forage. You have a better chance that the cat or dog is gonna get them then round-up killing them or making them sick.

Jacob Morgan

Jones County Pesticide Coordinator

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

100% of our beef eats roundup daily 100% of our wild life eats roundup dailly most of our civilization eats round up daily. round up is designed to kill weeds not crops infact wheat fields are sprayed just as they turn green so that any weeds come up they dont live. then cattle are turned out on the wheat to graze it. chickens do not have stomachs so it isnt as detramental to them.
there are the few exeptions to the rule with organic farms but there far few and inbetween. Dont sweat it its small stuff.

 

[PineappleMama]

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If you've got Netflix they've got it ... that's how I finally got to see it.

And that is why I now refer to that... entity... as Monsatan.

 

[BlackBart]

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If you've got Netflix they've got it ... that's how I finally got to see it.

And that is why I now refer to that... entity... as Monsatan.

Fresh The movie and Homo Toxicus are two movies that are worth watching too.

Link to a International report on Round-up

http://gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/12491

 

[jhm47]

There is always a certain percentage of people who are skeptical about any new technology. We are routinely being warned about various things that are supposed to be extremely harmful to our health. Examples:

1. Swine flu, bird flu, Asian flu---These were supposed to become pandemics and wipe out billions of people.
2. Y2K---The computers were all supposed to crash at the turn of the century, and life as we know it was supposed to cease.
3. Global cooling---in the 70's, we were being warned about the beginning of another "ice age". Never happened.
4. When I was in elementary school, we had "atomic bomb" drills, where we were instructed to cover our heads and get under our desks.
5. Artificial sweeteners---Every one of them is supposed to cause a malady of some kind.
6. Ozone layer---The ozone layer above the earth is being depleted, which will cause all kinds of trouble.
7. Global warming---May or may not be true, but in my many years of life, I have seen hot summers, cool summers, early falls and springs, late falls and springs, cold winters, warmer than usual winters (I like them best), wet years, dry years, snowy winters, open winters, normal years, etc. Add them all up, and I'd bet that there is no year that is not "abnormal" in some way.

What I'm trying to convey to everyone is that we humans always seem to be in the process of being warned about some kind of crisis that is supposed to be catastrophic. Most of the time these things are overblown, and don't warrant the amount of resources that are expended to nullify them.

Perhaps I'm just too old and set in my ways to worry about such things, but it sure has made my life more enjoyable since I learned to be skeptical about all these crises. I feel the same way about these roundup scares. My poultry has been free ranging over our land that has been sprayed with roundup for over a decade. None of these birds have shown any ill effects. We have lots of frogs and toads, and they have not shown any problems either. Neither have we noticed any "super weeds".

 

[Mn]

@jhm47 I have to respond to #5 - I have serious, and I mean SERIOUS, reactions to artificial sweeteners, so I can understand that some would be scared of those. There are many "food" products that are manufactured in such a way to make them unhealthy for human consumption but sold as healthy foods (anyone read how margarine or breakfast cereal is made? Yucky!)

Also, most of the other points you enumerated are government scares for the most part. Anyone with a lick of common sense isn't going to cry "End of the World" when they issue their "pandemics" etc. I saw pictures of people standing in lines, in the rain, 40 degree weather for hours, with babies to get the swine flu vaccination. To me, that was very sad. We have such a sheep mentality.

I completely understand your points. We do tend to be leery of new or unknown entities, but sometimes those fears are warranted. I am wondering if we think certain things don't have an affect on us because we don't feel differently, but how does it affect our children and grandchildren down the line? Things we are exposed to in our youth and adulthood can very well be passed on to future generations through our off-spring.

My question then, is this. If Round-Up is safe, why cover the pen? Why do some posts on here say not to eat the eggs for a few days? I'm just trying to figure it all out.