...eat the lead shot - or was it pushed?
The lead-eating chickens story is beginning to smell fishy.
Apparently the post-mortem shows that one of the chickens had 58g of lead shot in its gizzard. Think about that for a minute. That's 2oz of lead - two whole cartridges full. And this bird is supposed to have picked that lot up just scratching around its field next to a clay shoot. I don't buy it.
So how's this for a theory... Just suppose I ran a chicken farm, and I was getting cheesed off with those pesky clay shooters making a racket next door, putting my hens off laying. Being an honest sort of chap, I wouldn't be tempted to ram a few spoonfuls of lead shot down the necks of a few poor layers, now, would I?
Meanwhile, everyone involved is stonewalling. The truth will come out eventually - but by then all the public will remember is some vague association between lead shot and dodgy eggs.
“Deranged” – PETA • “Super-posh” – The Mirror • "His own worst enemy" – D Barnes Esq • "Barbaric" – Liverpool City Council
Lead ammunition's days are numbered, no doubt about it. But I'd really, really like to see the process driven by peer-reviewed studies. This case and the California condor study may or may not be valid indicators of a lead ammunition problem. But you're right: This sounds a little weird. If this was stray shot drifting in, that's a pretty large amount to end up in one bird.
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