Medicated Hens, When can we eat the eggs?

I think I posted this in the wrong place earlier. I posted on the newbie part of the site and then the emergency and diseases. I did not get a response on that at all. Please resond if you can help me. I was given these hens 3 months ago. When the growth feed (unknown brand in a plain white plastic bucket) was given to me with the hens, was finished I was to start them on laying pellets. They hated the pellets and I changed it to the crumbles. Someone had bloody stool within 2 days of the change. The feed store guy told me to use Sulmet. I did, all was well for about 3 weeks, then I got my first egg on Wednesday! Saturday my Shepherd chased one of my hens up a tree, he did not try to grab her or make any contact with her, but 2 days later (this morning) I went into the coop and there was bloody stool again. Is it possible for bloody stool to be stress induced? All the hens seem fine. They eat, drink, and play in the yard. I am waiting to see what all of your ideas are before I do the Sulmet thing again. We are just dying to use the eggs. How long after do we need to wait to eat the eggs after treating with Sulmet? Is there anything out there that is safe for human consumption that does not take 6 weeks (my own assumption of time - the label only says wait 3 days before you eat a treated chicken - parish the thought. I am totally attached to these 6 birds!) What about the time frame before you can use the eggs??? Thanks in advance for all your help.

I'm afraid I didn't do my own homework here. And I am a nurse. I have to admit I don't know when it would be safe, but I normally don't even worry about that kind of thing. I mean what do they do to the chickens that lay commercially? I hear its pretty bad sometimes. And yet the public eats it. I remember when you couldn't even order your eggs runny in cafe's.
As to the bloody stools......IDK. Do they have ground oyster shells. People say its for calcium, but others say its to help grind up the food in the gizzards. I wouldn't think that stress would cause bloody stools. Mine get scared sometimes. They are nervous little things by nature. Thats why they like a little cover.
Being sometimes a little bit of a worrier, the first thought that came to me with bloody stools was,'is it possible that they either consumed warfarin sodium ( an ingrediant in some rat poisons known to cause blood thinning ) or could they have eaten a poisoned rat." But if they are fine now, good.
There was a warning on the immunizations not to eat the chickens for 10 weeks, but that is a different thing. I don't think the eggs would be very long at all.

rhoda is probably right that it is really not going to make a difference. Sulmet is a basic sulfur drug.

If you do want to wait I would think that 10 to 14 days is plenty of time. saladin


By the way, you need to wait at least 30 days between treatments of Sulmet. That said, I would not be treating all your hens because one has some blood in the stool. Most of the time (not always) a bloody stool is the sign of worms for which Sulmet is no good at all.

i waited 10 days before i eat them to be safe
but the last time i dinnt wanted to trow them away so i pu them in the bator
but sadly 80% died whit in the first 12 hours
wont do that again

nava,
It must have been something else that killed your chicks.

Sulmet does not affect hatchability or liveability of the new chicks. saladin

Hello, Welcome to BYC. Chickens are wonderful pets and provide excellent, nourishing eggs.

If your chickens have bloody stools I would suspect that coccidiosis is the culprit, and if they have bloody stools it's serious and need treatment right away. Cocci is a protozoa that naturally occurs in chickens and most develop an immunity to it by six months. If they get stressed or something changes they can have an outbreak.

What's needed to start with is amprolium which is a cocci medication. Follow the directions on the package. You might also want to take a stool sample to a vet for a fecal to see what's going on. They don't cost much and it will be worth it to see if they have worms as well.

Chickens sometimes won't take to a new food right away but will have to get used to it first. My guess is that if you are using a quality layer feed they will eventually eat it and do well with it. Also, a gradual change over is recommended, to try to mix the two for a while. Consider, at least for the winter months, to give them a food that's higher in protein than layer. I use Purina Flock Raiser for the 20% protein which is higher than the 16% of standard layer formula. It's worth it because I think it helps them lay during the winter; yesterday I got three eggs from four hens that are laying.

If one chicken has cocci, chances are they all have it. Right now the chicken with the bloody stool is in a weakened condition and extra protein treats will help her. You can scramble any eggs that you get and give them back to the girls if you don't want to eat them yourself and it will be excellent nutrition for them.

I hope this helps. I'm new myself but have read and studied extensively as well as read posts here. If you go to the Search option at the top of the page for cocci and/or worms you'll find lots of information.

Good luck,
Mary