We finally got eggs!!....., but are they safe to eat. :-( Here is why I ask. I apologize, this ma

We got 15 baby chicks from Rural King in mid May this year. Also in mid-May, my husband bought six chickens (they appeared to be a couple of weeks older that the ones we bought at RK) off Craig's List. One of the breeds we got at RK seemed a little sickly and we lost three of them pretty quickly. We were told they would start laying around 14 - 15 weeks (I know, I should've come here instead of listening to someone else!!) and that due to them being on medicated food the first eggs would have to be thrown away. Well, my husband started mixing their medicated food with regular food around 14 weeks, and they were completely off the medicated food by 20 weeks. Sometime around 14 weeks, several of them started acting strange, i.e., couldn't use their legs, drooping wing. A couple died. We took our rooster, whose legs were paralyzed to the vet. The Vet put him down and had him tested. The Diagnosis was: Dfdx Marek's disease; botulism. In the Vet's comments were: Because of your history, I highly suspect Mareks disease - quarantine sick chicks - there was also some coccidian present. We are now down to 6 chickens. They have started laying and my question is, are the eggs safe to eat? If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read!! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! Have a great day!

The eggs are safe to eat.
Coccidia will always be present in the gut of any chicken in contact with the soil. In most other animals as well. So that isn't a problem.
There is no known human health risk from the Marek's virus.
The medicated feed shouldn't be a problem either. It isn't really medicine as most people think of it. It contains a thiamine blocker (usually amprolium) that starves the coccidia protozoa.
I never use it.

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X2 on ChickenCanoe; enjoy those eggs. ) If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

Thank you!!!

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

bryantfarm said:

Thank you!!!

Click to expand...

You're welcome.

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. So sorry for your losses and hardships. You already received great advice. Good luck with your girls in the future. Oh and fry up them eggs!

If you have Mareks in your flock, there are several very good Marek's threads you can investigate (just put in search box). As I understand it, survivors of Mareks will be carriers for life.

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!



Sorry to hear about your chicken journey so far, but you have made it to the milestone of some of them starting to lay. So, enjoy it and eat those eggs up. They are so much better tasting and better for you than grocery store eggs.