I was reading on another forum site (I think backyardpoultry or something) and some members there suggested that the only reason that they say not to feed it to layer hens is because they haven't ever done any studies to see what the effects are, so to cover their asses, they warn against it.
But honestly, I don't know, and there don't seem to be any clear answers. From what I have minimally researched, dinitro-O-toluamide is NOT an antibiotic as others have suggested. According to Wikipedia, it is an antiprotozoal specifically for coccidiosis, so I can't imagine it can really have terrible effects on humans, and as has already been mentioned: we can eat chickens that have been fed this medication, why wouldn't we be able to eat the eggs?
This site might be helpful in regards to the profile of the chemical:
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+7192 <--- This may have been posted earlier, or at least some of the information on it has been already made known.
Also, someone mentioned NEVER having chicks with older hens... Mine are with the other hens, and they have had no problems to date. They even jump on my other broody, while the rest of the hens pretty much just leave the chicks alone. This may have something to do with the fierce mama, but it's worked out well so far.
But honestly, I don't know, and there don't seem to be any clear answers. From what I have minimally researched, dinitro-O-toluamide is NOT an antibiotic as others have suggested. According to Wikipedia, it is an antiprotozoal specifically for coccidiosis, so I can't imagine it can really have terrible effects on humans, and as has already been mentioned: we can eat chickens that have been fed this medication, why wouldn't we be able to eat the eggs?
This site might be helpful in regards to the profile of the chemical:
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+7192 <--- This may have been posted earlier, or at least some of the information on it has been already made known.
Also, someone mentioned NEVER having chicks with older hens... Mine are with the other hens, and they have had no problems to date. They even jump on my other broody, while the rest of the hens pretty much just leave the chicks alone. This may have something to do with the fierce mama, but it's worked out well so far.