Lawn Fertilizer & Roundup- Need To Know How Harmful! MY GIRLS ATE IT!

[snowhorse]

Okay so we have a decent amount of animals and 40 acres, and its just me and my Dad. So he hired a kid to help us out around the barn. He has been here for going on 3 years.

Well I just got my flock about a year ago, I had them before he was here at one point in time but got out of them for awhile.

Since he has been here, he also takes care of the lawns, and weeds.

I have told him to ask me about using or changing anything around the house- especially chemical wise.

Well he sprayed all the weeds with Round Up and Fertilized the lawn with Scotts Synthetic Fertilizer...... Around MY COOP.

My girls were out free ranging on freshly sprayed weeds and fertilized lawn!!!!!

So what I need to know is:

Is this going to kill my girls? Or make them sick? What do I need to watch out for?
If it doesn't kill them...I sell their eggs! How long should I not eat or sell them, or do I need to take this precaution?
I believe they had about 7 hours of free range of this stuff.

I am soooo mad..... And he has the nerve to get mad at me when I said hey this could hurt my birds! - Well fine, the lawn wont grow and I am not getting on my knees to pull weeds!

 

[sayitaint]

Funny I have lurked on this site for a few months and this will be my first post.

know a lot about chemicals and fertilizers. Round up is labeled for use in pastures so I would not worry. It is taken up by the plant very quickly.
The fertilizer should not hurt as long as the chickens are not eating it. I would water the area if you can and for your own piece of mind
you may want to keep them off for a little while. If they eat some of the fertilizer, I would think about not using the eggs for a short while.

 

[snowhorse]

Okay I am sure they ate some of the fertilizer because I saw them eating the grass...and then found out about the fertilizer.

How long should I not eat the eggs? And is there anything I can do for my girls?

And how long should I leave them locked up? Its currently raining and we are supposed to get 3 to 4 inches, will this get rid of most of it?

 

[snowhorse]

Im bumping myself! Someone has to know!

 

[sydney13]

i wouldn't eat the eggs for a few days if i were you. they should be fine but they might have some diarrhea, so put a bit of white or apple cider vinegar in their water, and give them some vitiman supplements in the watter to keep them healthy as they digest it

 

[Intheswamp]

3-4 inches of rain should do a lot more good than a waterhose. That should be sufficient to get things diliuted/washed pretty good.

Ed

 

[snowhorse]

Does anyone know how long fertilizer takes to get out of your grass so its safe again?

 

[Intheswamp]

Well, if it's just fertilizer (no weed killers) that's been taken up by the grass that you're talking about I wouldn't worry too much about it. Farmers fertilize pastures and hayfields to create a more dense, nutritious stand of grasses. Cows are smart when it comes to eating...they will choose to eat pasture or hay that has been ferilized before they'll eat grasses that are growing on exhausted ground. I don't know if chickens are like that, but they will still benefit from a fertilized and more nutritious grass. Once the residue is washed off the grass blades I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Even though an organic fertilizer would be better, the nutritional value of the grass will probably be better after this fertilizing.

Ed

 

[snowhorse]

Quote:
It was Synthetic Scotts Fertilizer: This to be exact

http://www.hardwarestore.com/media/msds/134221.pdf

It was a crabgrass preventer and fertilizer

 

[Intheswamp]

It's a pesticide. Being as it targets plants we call it a herbicide. It targets broadleaf plants. According to what I've read it is not absorbed by grass leaves...the problem there being that the chickens don't know to *only* eat the grass and not the good greens that they discover. I'm no horticulturalist so hopefully someone else with some knowledge about this will chime in.

Here are some things that I read that kind of stood out to me:

Effects on Birds
When used according to label instructions, pendimethalin is not toxic to birds (6). The 8-day dietary LD50 for pendimethalin in bobwhite quail is greater than 3,149 ppm, and for mallard ducks is greater than 4,640 ppm (5).

Effects on Aquatic Organisms
Pendimethalin is highly toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Runoff from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring bodies of water. Pendimethalin should be kept out of lakes, streams and ponds. Do not contaminate open waters during cleaning of equipment or disposal of wastes (1, 5). The 96-hour LC50 for pendimethalin in bluegill sunfish is 0.199 ppm, and for rainbow trout is 0.138 ppm. The 48-hour LC50 in Daphnia magna, a small freshwater crustacean, is 0.28 (5).

Effects on Other Animals (Nontarget species)
When used according to label instructions, pendimethalin is not toxic to bees or mammals (6).

Breakdown of Chemical in Vegetation
Pendimethalin's herbicidal effects are related to inhibition of cell division and cell elongation. It is absorbed by plant roots and shoots. Pendimethalin is not absorbed by the leaves of grasses. Only very small amounts are taken up by plants from the soil. Once absorbed into plant tissues, translocation is limited and pendimethalin breaks down via oxidation. Residues on crops at harvest are usually below detectable levels (0.05 ppm) (6).

These notes are from Cornell University .

I wish I could tell you "yay" or "nay". I really think that there's no need for excessive worrying, especially after getting the heavy rain that you mentioned was coming but that's easy for me to say because they're not my chickens. I'm sure that by now that you've got a good understanding with the hand about chemical useage. Did he have a reason for using it without running it by you first? Sometimes we all make mistakes.

Best wishes,
Ed