Lost my best hen yesterday. Cut her open and in her gizzard was 2 screws, a copper rivet and a dozen pellets. She died of lead poisoning. I now use a pellet trap, hope this helps someone.
Pets and Pellets, beware!
- Thread starter Peep
- Start date
Sorry to hear that. I think that some people never really think about that happening but after hearing what you just said I can remember a friend of mine with chickens and would watch them steady be picking at the ground eating throughout the day.
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Sorry to hear about that! I always use a 22 steel trap - inside two plastic trash bags, placed in 2 cardboard boxes - nothing escapes and no splatter or even dust.
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yep .. shooting in your yard if you have poultry will kill them .. i actually found out years ago shooting a shotgun in the yard was killing my birds because they were ingesting the lead ....
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Sorry to hear of the loss. Reminds me to add, as a new air enthusiast to also use lead-free pellets(?) if shooting often inside your home. Overtime, effects of lead/dust will add up.
What do you veteran air enthusiasts think, or am I over analyzing /wasting my money? Thanks.
What do you veteran air enthusiasts think, or am I over analyzing /wasting my money? Thanks.
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That's tragic. Seems she took a liking to metals of various kinds. Yet your loss serves as a timely reminder to those shooting lead away into the landscape without paying attention to the pollution they are causing, and the death they are inflicting.
BACK STOPS !!
BACK STOPS !!
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I shoot in my back yard and I’ll admit I make NO effort to contain the lead . I really don’t know what the risks are with respect to lead pellets and bullets in the soil . I thought that lead in it’s solid metal form was pretty inert . Maybe some one knowledgeable on the subject could educate me/us?
The original poster said the chicken died of lead poisoning? How was that determined.?
I guess the problem is not just me but millions of others that do the same.
I’m listening
The original poster said the chicken died of lead poisoning? How was that determined.?
I guess the problem is not just me but millions of others that do the same.
I’m listening
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Yea, I shoot in the house (across the living room and down the hall)...and...have two cats. I normally wait until the take a "break" after lunch to do my shooting. More than once, one would walk out of the bedroom while I was taking aim, I stand down and wait,. The target is way above their heads, but, still gotta be careful.
Mike
Mike
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I think there's more harm from the leaded pipe water people drink.
Bright side we should get pretty good lead tolerance constantly breathing in lead dust eh? Especially bullpup shooters.
Bright side we should get pretty good lead tolerance constantly breathing in lead dust eh? Especially bullpup shooters.
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That SUCKS! Something to be mindful of. Sorry for your loss man. I’ve never had one eat metal. Seen em eat pebbles, but that’s normal. Also noticed some peck at spray foam. Which breed are you raising?
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lead oxidizes or corrode relatively slow unless the water or soil is on the acidic side. However it does eventually breakdown and leach into the soil over time. Once there it isn’t possible to remove it, once in ground water then everyone will end up drinking it. The bad part about lead is once it’s in your body it will be there for a very long time and it is a known neurological toxin especially bad in developing kids, the body does not have a way to get rid of it.
In short it is terrible, I use pellet trap for targets and collect all I can find. But once in land fill it will eventually end up in ground water so trashing it isn’t all that great but at least your yard doesn’t have a huge concentration of it. If you grow food in your yard then it having lead everywhere isnt a good idea, if you have shallow well for drinking water then definitely don’t leave lead everywhere. Yes, lead occurs naturally but not even remotely in the concentration Industrial Age has brought.
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I was adopted by an ex-fightin' rooster, full dub, broke spurs and bust feathers, couple months ago. Showed up my gate trying to get in. Neighbor kids toss these broken birds out the car when they drive by. He follows me around now. Takes scratch from my hand every morning. The numbers of dead centipedes I find have trebled since he arrived. He loves em like candy. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to him.
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Thanks for posting this, I never gave a pellet another thought as long as I fired it in a safe direction. I'll be using a pellet trap more often and rethinking some of my shooting habits.
Sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss.
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P
pdxFrank
Guest
excellent question. correlation/causation thing? 450mg per kilo of human to be lethal. seems logical an ounce or two would kill a chicken.
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As far as lead being inert, once a bird ingests it their very acidic digestive juices go to work on it. There's a good reason lead shot is no longer legal in waterfowl areas. I use steel traps as well but still haven't found the best way to contain the splatter.
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Sorry for your loss. Here's lil pellet trap I came up with that you might find useful for catching/collecting your pellets:
Great Silent Pellet Trap & Fun Targets Idea - Airgun Nation
Great Silent Pellet Trap & Fun Targets Idea - Airgun Nation
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