I saw a segment in a show last week but for the life of me I can’t rember which show it was. I suspect it was just a fill in because i’ve beenback through the TV guide and I can’t find anything likely.

Anyway, they had Josh talking about one of the, often overlooked, dangers of backyard chooks.

In years past dieldrin was a common poison around fence lines, sheds and houses. It has a very long life in the soil, is accumulative in the body and a known carcinogen. Hens that are allowed to peck around contaminated areas pass it through in their eggs. He reccommended soil testing or getting the eggs tested by a lab. Also keeping hens at least a metre from fences or buildings.

Bit scary really because who knows what was used in older suburbs before we bought houses there.

I have seen that in a GA magazine once too.

It was on Can We Help, I saw that too and thought “Oh Bugger, our soon to be chook house looks like all the timber in it was prolly soaked/treated with Dieldrin.

Townsville is plonked right in the middle of a termite mound and every bit of timber near the soil was probably treated with Dieldrin at some time in the past…

Way back in the Army, we had tins of Dieldrin and DDT in the store….

FAQs about Aldrin and Dieldrin

Far out. The sins of the past coming to the fore. How does one find out if their area has been poisoned ?
I know the flat land of my town was once grazing farmland.

You can get your soil tested, but you need to be pretty specific in what you’re looking for. If you just show up to a lab with your sample, he’ll tell you the basics. Because some tests cost different amounts.

If you find a Globe or Garrads Dealer, the Sales staff there should be able to send your soil sample away for testing, but you may want to talk to them first to see if their lab can test for Organophosphates, Organochlorides or even specifically for Dieldrin.

Now I know my house was built in 1976 and the plans state that my slab was treated for Termites, so 1976, slab treatment = Dieldrin. Perhaps I should head down to the Cemetery now and buy a plot?

Townsville has a high rate of Cancer, some think it is because we have the highest average UV ratings in the World and some say it is because of the Nickel and Copper refineries… Maybe its because we built on a Termite Mound and the soil has been nuked???

I’m off to get a headstone engraved…

I think you can get your eggs tested, to see if the chooks are picking anything up.

bluegreen said:

I think you can get your eggs tested, to see if the chooks are picking anything up.

That was what Josh said.

Speaking of backyard chooks… Who here has a Tyre Swan

pain master said:

Speaking of backyard chooks… Who here has a Tyre Swan

Oh No! Aren’t they gross?