Strange idea for locating gold .... using chickens

[lobsterman]

We are new to raising chickens, but i have let our chickens go freeranging in the backyard and garden area each day for the past week, and i was amazed at how many tiny bits of trash, foil, and other foreign matter those chickens have uncovered in just a few days, especially since we keep a very clean yard with no trash in it, (or so i thought), but those chickens have come across and uncovered well over a hundred pieces of tiny and shiny items. Apparently chickens must have some incredible eyesight.
So i got to thinking while i was going along picking up these previously hidden bits of plastic and foil, that were now on the surface of the ground.... i wonder .... if given chickens natural attraction and abilities of locating and uncovering "tiny and shiny", if perhaps a few chickens may be good to take along on gold prospecting trips.
They probably would not do so well picking and scratching in the tailings of a hard rock mining area, but in areas or creekbeds known for having placer gold deposits i think those chickens may be good little helpers for locating and uncovering gold flakes (they don't eat the non food items they uncover), so the trick would be to just go along in the area after them to pick up what they have uncovered.
Anyone got any thoughts on this weird idea of possibly using chickens to locate or uncover gold ?.

 

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[ticm]

Well if it don't work you can eat them.

 

[AC1955]

Lucky you having "cleaner chickens"! My chix only find bugs, eat weeds and just do general maintenance on my property! Wish I could train them to dig a bit deeper... Maybe your chix can come visit mine and teach them how to dig??

 

[flyadive]

I thought about training a dog to sniff out buried treasure. Pretty sure I could do it if I really really wanted too, but I don't want to so throw me a bone. Besides how many complaints?

 

[Muddyhandz]

Reminds me of an e-bay auction that I missed out on.

I don't know how I stumbled upon it, but it was listed something like this......

" Chicken coop treasure jewelry cache."

It was hard to figure out but according to the seller, their chickens uncovered a cache of jewelry in the coop. There was 20 to 30 rings and many of them looked like gold and silver.

It was one of those auctions that the scrap gold and silver crowd didn't know about and went for $20. I wasn't able to bid on the last day.

I wonder if it was true that their chickens uncovered the hoard?

Cheers,
Dave.

 

[allen_idaho]

I know geese have been known to do that. They pick up just about anything shiny. Same with magpies.

 

[j.n.]

there have been stories of small nuggets being found in the craws of chicken raised in placer areas. They stored these nuggets to help grind up here food so their stomachs could digest it. This could well be a true tale.

j.n.

 

[recondigger]

there have been stories of small nuggets being found in the craws of chicken raised in placer areas. They stored these nuggets to help grind up here food so their stomachs could digest it. This could well be a true tale.

j.n.

I grew up with chickens and it is true. They eat small stones to help grind food. When we would butcher the birds we would find hundreds of my BB's they would pick up on there gizzards. So I think it would work of you put them in a pen in the area you wanted them and feed them every so often. It would take awhile and you would need to butcher them after awhile but it really would be a waste and if it works they would pay for themselves. Screw it I would buy two birds and try it if you have the place

 

[AC1955]

What everyone is saying is that the chix will eat the gold because it's gravel sized and in with other gravel. Even though it is shiny they won't discriminate due to the size of the flakes. You then will have to butcher the bird and cut into the crop/gizzard to retrieve the gold flakes. NOT a pleasant job. The slaughtering is okay, but retrieving anything from crop/gizzard stinks to holy hell. Nasty! If you have someone "professionally" slaughter, you will not get the gizzards or crop, so gold would be lost. More work than it's worth. I'd stick to the tried and true methods of gold hunting. JMHO.

 

[lobsterman]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but after a year of having the chickens i can honestly say that they sure do make great little treasure hunters !!!. I still cannot believe the amount and types of items they have uncovered, although nothing of great value they have uncovered more than a dozen coins (the oldest being a 1919 wheat penny), a childs toy ring, a few tools, a head from a splitting maul, a couple of hotwheels cars, and thousands of other pieces of assorted glass, ceramic, metal and plastic toys, trash, and other junk. But the funniest thing was when i actually saw one of the chickens dig something up from under my kids tree swing, and i tried to get it away from her but she wasn't giving it up, so i wound up chasing a chicken around the yard that had a small childs bubble blowing pipe stickingout of her beak, I thought my wife was going to die laughing at me chasing a chicken with a toy pipe hanging out of it's mouth.

 

[farmerboy856]

all my chickens do is get into the cow feed and sit by the grain bin after i grind feed! i wouldn't butcher those birds of yours thats for sure!

 

[coazon de oro]

This may give credence to the goose that laid the golden egg.

 

[62dold]

like the idea of chickens finding gold, but don't slaughter them untill they are rich. Just take your M D and see if it sounds off .----------then fried chicken!

 

[kuger]

........actually "urban legends",about them killing chickens and opening the gizzards to get the gold out...its not out of the realm of possibility given the countless stories about nuggets bein picked up off the top of the ground...especially on the roads after rains

 

[taz42o]

Better to use crows they will collect any item they are trained for and deposit it in a box, easier than chasing chickens down the riverbed. Also they need no supervision and will cover much larger areas.

Conservation Connections: Training Crows to be Partners, not Parasites: An Interview with Josh Klein

 

[liftloop]

This stories is for the birds

 

[mical66]

i can tell you from first hand experience chickens as well as geese are as bad as goats .where as the chickens are not as bad as a goose , they will swallow anything small rock sized or shape to help grind there food. geese on the other hand i have actually pulled sparkplugs out of their craw. if they can swallow it they will..lol

 

[flyadive]

That reminds me of ......


What's BIG and RED and eats ROCKS?

 

[Moonrover]

Don't take this wrong, but if gold nuggets are on or near the surface would not a metal detector be better than a flock of chickens? How do you keep those chickens on the area that you want searched? Chicken wire fence that is moved around from one gravel deposit to the next?

I do love the novel idea though. Creative thinking.

By the way my avatar is not a chicken or chicken hawk. Just a common West Virginia mothman.

M

 

[Bum Luck]

What everyone is saying is that the chix will eat the gold because it's gravel sized and in with other gravel. Even though it is shiny they won't discriminate due to the size of the flakes. You then will have to butcher the bird and cut into the crop/gizzard to retrieve the gold flakes. NOT a pleasant job. The slaughtering is okay, but retrieving anything from crop/gizzard stinks to holy hell. Nasty! If you have someone "professionally" slaughter, you will not get the gizzards or crop, so gold would be lost. More work than it's worth. I'd stick to the tried and true methods of gold hunting. JMHO.

If you think that's nasty, dip the chickens in boiling water (done when plucking).

I clean crops out all the time (hunting ducks, pheasants, and geese), and it's no big deal. I don't do chickens though. You can buy one cleaned for peanuts.