Of the nearly half a million Aussies who raise chooks in their own backyard, we bet most agree that there's nothing quite like a breakfast featuring eggs straight from the coop.

It's not always the quality of freshness and taste that makes homemade eggs stand out from store-bought alternatives.

Australia is in the middle of an egg shortage, so people are setting up chook pens in their backyards just to make ends meet.

However, a recent study has discovered that backyard hen-produced eggs may have harmful lead levels up to 40 times greater than supermarket-purchased eggs, prompting a caution to urban gardeners.

Eggs from backyard chickens could be bad for you and your family's health. Credit: iStock.​

In the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists from Macquarie University and the Australian National University took blood and egg samples from nearly 70 domestic chickens from 55 urban gardens in Sydney.

The researchers looked at how much trace metals were in the garden soils of Sydney homes and in the chickens and eggs that came from them. They also looked into other possible sources of contamination, like the water that animals drink and the food that chickens eat.

Scratching in the soil and pecking at food from the ground are the main ways in which harmful lead enters the chickens' bodies.

There was a strong link between the amount of lead in the soil and the amount of lead in the blood and eggs of chickens. In some samples, they found possible contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies, but it was not a significant source of exposure.

There was a strong correlation between lead concentrations in chicken eggs and the amount of lead in the soil. Credit: Getty Images.​

Using the Australian VegeSafe garden soil database, which has information from more than 20,000 samples, the results were then used to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are likely to have soil lead concentrations that are too high for keeping backyard chickens.

'Our newly published research found backyard hens' eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs,' study authors Mark Patrick Taylor, Dorrit E. Jacob and Vladimir Strezov wrote in their report.

'Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.'

Watch the video below to learn more information about their findings and the way that they carried out their research:

Credit: The Conversation.​

Many people who grow food in their own yards might be surprised by these results. It’s often assumed that a home coop would produce healthier eggs. The trend of people growing their own food has been going up for the past decade, and rising grocery prices have made it go up even more in the last few years.

While urban gardening is valuable and should be encouraged, studies of contaminated Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake in plants reveal it should be done with great caution.

Over the long history of Australian cities, pollution has built up in the soil. These toxic chemicals can get into our food chain through vegetables, honey bees, and chickens.

Members, if you have been keeping chickens in your yard or have been planning to start doing so for some time now, it is highly recommended that you have the lead content of your soil checked and analysed.

This can be done at VegeSafe or by using a commercial lab. The soils identified as problematic can be replaced, and hens can be confined to areas with verified clean soil.

Stay safe, members! And let us know, do you keep chickens?

 

[Ricci]

Is breathing safe? It would appear that just about everything else it out to get you.

 

[SUESROBB]

Of the nearly half a million Aussies who raise chooks in their own backyard, we bet most agree that there's nothing quite like a breakfast featuring eggs straight from the coop.

It's not always the quality of freshness and taste that makes homemade eggs stand out from store-bought alternatives.

Australia is in the middle of an egg shortage, so people are setting up chook pens in their backyards just to make ends meet.

However, a recent study has discovered that backyard hen-produced eggs may have harmful lead levels up to 40 times greater than supermarket-purchased eggs, prompting a caution to urban gardeners.

Eggs from backyard chickens could be bad for you and your family's health. Credit: iStock.​

In the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists from Macquarie University and the Australian National University took blood and egg samples from nearly 70 domestic chickens from 55 urban gardens in Sydney.

The researchers looked at how much trace metals were in the garden soils of Sydney homes and in the chickens and eggs that came from them. They also looked into other possible sources of contamination, like the water that animals drink and the food that chickens eat.

Scratching in the soil and pecking at food from the ground are the main ways in which harmful lead enters the chickens' bodies.

There was a strong link between the amount of lead in the soil and the amount of lead in the blood and eggs of chickens. In some samples, they found possible contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies, but it was not a significant source of exposure.

There was a strong correlation between lead concentrations in chicken eggs and the amount of lead in the soil. Credit: Getty Images.​

Using the Australian VegeSafe garden soil database, which has information from more than 20,000 samples, the results were then used to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are likely to have soil lead concentrations that are too high for keeping backyard chickens.

'Our newly published research found backyard hens' eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs,' study authors Mark Patrick Taylor, Dorrit E. Jacob and Vladimir Strezov wrote in their report.

'Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.'

Watch the video below to learn more information about their findings and the way that they carried out their research:

Credit: The Conversation.​

Many people who grow food in their own yards might be surprised by these results. It’s often assumed that a home coop would produce healthier eggs. The trend of people growing their own food has been going up for the past decade, and rising grocery prices have made it go up even more in the last few years.

While urban gardening is valuable and should be encouraged, studies of contaminated Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake in plants reveal it should be done with great caution.

Over the long history of Australian cities, pollution has built up in the soil. These toxic chemicals can get into our food chain through vegetables, honey bees, and chickens.

Members, if you have been keeping chickens in your yard or have been planning to start doing so for some time now, it is highly recommended that you have the lead content of your soil checked and analysed.

This can be done at VegeSafe or by using a commercial lab. The soils identified as problematic can be replaced, and hens can be confined to areas with verified clean soil.

Stay safe, members! And let us know, do you keep chickens?

I keep chickens in a semi rural area. I cannot imagine how there could be lead in the soil here. There has never been a house or dwelling other than my concrete floor, wooden chicken houses. The yard gets flooded so often that it is effectively washed clean.

 

[Joella9]

If you are a worshiper of the WEF, this is an effective way to lie and keep “Useless Eaters” from being able to eat.
Who are the researchers and who paid for these results?
Shame on you for this supposed research to be allowed to put off people, especially Seniors, from subsistence garden practices!

 

[terri]

Is breathing safe? It would appear that just about everything else it out to get you.

Only if you do it properly Ricci.

 

[Zac]

Of the nearly half a million Aussies who raise chooks in their own backyard, we bet most agree that there's nothing quite like a breakfast featuring eggs straight from the coop.

It's not always the quality of freshness and taste that makes homemade eggs stand out from store-bought alternatives.

Australia is in the middle of an egg shortage, so people are setting up chook pens in their backyards just to make ends meet.

However, a recent study has discovered that backyard hen-produced eggs may have harmful lead levels up to 40 times greater than supermarket-purchased eggs, prompting a caution to urban gardeners.

Eggs from backyard chickens could be bad for you and your family's health. Credit: iStock.​

In the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists from Macquarie University and the Australian National University took blood and egg samples from nearly 70 domestic chickens from 55 urban gardens in Sydney.

The researchers looked at how much trace metals were in the garden soils of Sydney homes and in the chickens and eggs that came from them. They also looked into other possible sources of contamination, like the water that animals drink and the food that chickens eat.

Scratching in the soil and pecking at food from the ground are the main ways in which harmful lead enters the chickens' bodies.

There was a strong link between the amount of lead in the soil and the amount of lead in the blood and eggs of chickens. In some samples, they found possible contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies, but it was not a significant source of exposure.

There was a strong correlation between lead concentrations in chicken eggs and the amount of lead in the soil. Credit: Getty Images.​

Using the Australian VegeSafe garden soil database, which has information from more than 20,000 samples, the results were then used to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are likely to have soil lead concentrations that are too high for keeping backyard chickens.

'Our newly published research found backyard hens' eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs,' study authors Mark Patrick Taylor, Dorrit E. Jacob and Vladimir Strezov wrote in their report.

'Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.'

Watch the video below to learn more information about their findings and the way that they carried out their research:

Credit: The Conversation.​

Many people who grow food in their own yards might be surprised by these results. It’s often assumed that a home coop would produce healthier eggs. The trend of people growing their own food has been going up for the past decade, and rising grocery prices have made it go up even more in the last few years.

While urban gardening is valuable and should be encouraged, studies of contaminated Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake in plants reveal it should be done with great caution.

Over the long history of Australian cities, pollution has built up in the soil. These toxic chemicals can get into our food chain through vegetables, honey bees, and chickens.

Members, if you have been keeping chickens in your yard or have been planning to start doing so for some time now, it is highly recommended that you have the lead content of your soil checked and analysed.

This can be done at VegeSafe or by using a commercial lab. The soils identified as problematic can be replaced, and hens can be confined to areas with verified clean soil.

Stay safe, members! And let us know, do you keep chickens?

Wonder how we ever survived?

 

[joshram]

Is breathing safe? It would appear that just about everything else it out to get you.

Well, no. Everything that breathes will die sooner or later.

 

[Lynette Mitchell]

Once upon a time every one kept eggs and no one died what do you think Chooks lay eggs into the carton it’s just a big joke all eggs are layer into the backyard it’s just to make egg farmers get rich and out the little fellows,it’s like Honey if you have many Bees and one does it for a hobby,this mite they have found let’s the big honey person keep his Bees and make sure they squeeze the small bee keeper out so He doesn’t sell a small amount of honey, while the big honey merchant makes all the money because he can sell more honey and keep all the money flowing to him ,it’s a great big joke,and the DPI know this,

 

[Suemac]

Of the nearly half a million Aussies who raise chooks in their own backyard, we bet most agree that there's nothing quite like a breakfast featuring eggs straight from the coop.

It's not always the quality of freshness and taste that makes homemade eggs stand out from store-bought alternatives.

Australia is in the middle of an egg shortage, so people are setting up chook pens in their backyards just to make ends meet.

However, a recent study has discovered that backyard hen-produced eggs may have harmful lead levels up to 40 times greater than supermarket-purchased eggs, prompting a caution to urban gardeners.

Eggs from backyard chickens could be bad for you and your family's health. Credit: iStock.​

In the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists from Macquarie University and the Australian National University took blood and egg samples from nearly 70 domestic chickens from 55 urban gardens in Sydney.

The researchers looked at how much trace metals were in the garden soils of Sydney homes and in the chickens and eggs that came from them. They also looked into other possible sources of contamination, like the water that animals drink and the food that chickens eat.

Scratching in the soil and pecking at food from the ground are the main ways in which harmful lead enters the chickens' bodies.

There was a strong link between the amount of lead in the soil and the amount of lead in the blood and eggs of chickens. In some samples, they found possible contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies, but it was not a significant source of exposure.

There was a strong correlation between lead concentrations in chicken eggs and the amount of lead in the soil. Credit: Getty Images.​

Using the Australian VegeSafe garden soil database, which has information from more than 20,000 samples, the results were then used to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are likely to have soil lead concentrations that are too high for keeping backyard chickens.

'Our newly published research found backyard hens' eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs,' study authors Mark Patrick Taylor, Dorrit E. Jacob and Vladimir Strezov wrote in their report.

'Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.'

Watch the video below to learn more information about their findings and the way that they carried out their research:

Credit: The Conversation.​

Many people who grow food in their own yards might be surprised by these results. It’s often assumed that a home coop would produce healthier eggs. The trend of people growing their own food has been going up for the past decade, and rising grocery prices have made it go up even more in the last few years.

While urban gardening is valuable and should be encouraged, studies of contaminated Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake in plants reveal it should be done with great caution.

Over the long history of Australian cities, pollution has built up in the soil. These toxic chemicals can get into our food chain through vegetables, honey bees, and chickens.

Members, if you have been keeping chickens in your yard or have been planning to start doing so for some time now, it is highly recommended that you have the lead content of your soil checked and analysed.

This can be done at VegeSafe or by using a commercial lab. The soils identified as problematic can be replaced, and hens can be confined to areas with verified clean soil.

Stay safe, members! And let us know, do you keep chickens?

We have two chooks. They are free range in our backyard and keep the insects down, and the compost for the vegetable garden turned over, as well as giving us beautiful eggs every day.

 

[Petra]

Oh my gosh ..... I was raised on a farm where we drank warm creamy milk that came straight from the cow, my parents never bought milk ! We ate the eggs from the chickens on a daily basis. I made it to 61 years with no cholesterol problems or any other "dairy" problems. I still eat 3 to 4 eggs a day. They sell "cage free" and "free range" eggs ... WTF ? Gosh, I must have been dead when I was 15 yo. according to scientists! blah blah

 

[Suemac]

Of the nearly half a million Aussies who raise chooks in their own backyard, we bet most agree that there's nothing quite like a breakfast featuring eggs straight from the coop.

It's not always the quality of freshness and taste that makes homemade eggs stand out from store-bought alternatives.

Australia is in the middle of an egg shortage, so people are setting up chook pens in their backyards just to make ends meet.

However, a recent study has discovered that backyard hen-produced eggs may have harmful lead levels up to 40 times greater than supermarket-purchased eggs, prompting a caution to urban gardeners.

Eggs from backyard chickens could be bad for you and your family's health. Credit: iStock.​

In the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists from Macquarie University and the Australian National University took blood and egg samples from nearly 70 domestic chickens from 55 urban gardens in Sydney.

The researchers looked at how much trace metals were in the garden soils of Sydney homes and in the chickens and eggs that came from them. They also looked into other possible sources of contamination, like the water that animals drink and the food that chickens eat.

Scratching in the soil and pecking at food from the ground are the main ways in which harmful lead enters the chickens' bodies.

There was a strong link between the amount of lead in the soil and the amount of lead in the blood and eggs of chickens. In some samples, they found possible contamination from drinking water and commercial feed supplies, but it was not a significant source of exposure.

There was a strong correlation between lead concentrations in chicken eggs and the amount of lead in the soil. Credit: Getty Images.​

Using the Australian VegeSafe garden soil database, which has information from more than 20,000 samples, the results were then used to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are likely to have soil lead concentrations that are too high for keeping backyard chickens.

'Our newly published research found backyard hens' eggs contain, on average, more than 40 times the lead levels of commercially produced eggs,' study authors Mark Patrick Taylor, Dorrit E. Jacob and Vladimir Strezov wrote in their report.

'Almost one in two hens in our Sydney study had significant lead levels in their blood. Similarly, about half the eggs analysed contained lead at levels that may pose a health concern for consumers.'

Watch the video below to learn more information about their findings and the way that they carried out their research:

Credit: The Conversation.​

Many people who grow food in their own yards might be surprised by these results. It’s often assumed that a home coop would produce healthier eggs. The trend of people growing their own food has been going up for the past decade, and rising grocery prices have made it go up even more in the last few years.

While urban gardening is valuable and should be encouraged, studies of contaminated Australian home garden soils and trace metal uptake in plants reveal it should be done with great caution.

Over the long history of Australian cities, pollution has built up in the soil. These toxic chemicals can get into our food chain through vegetables, honey bees, and chickens.

Members, if you have been keeping chickens in your yard or have been planning to start doing so for some time now, it is highly recommended that you have the lead content of your soil checked and analysed.

This can be done at VegeSafe or by using a commercial lab. The soils identified as problematic can be replaced, and hens can be confined to areas with verified clean soil.

Stay safe, members! And let us know, do you keep chickens?

We have 2 chooks, who provide us with eggs daily, manure for our vegetable garden, keep snails and insects down, and turn over our compost heap. We love them!