Antibiotics Doxycycline question

[dlm]

I sent a dead hen in for a necropsy. Results came back as salpingitis. I naively bought doxycycline 20% and have already treated my entire flock with with it for 7 days. But now im reading that I shouldn't have done that. I know there is a lengthy egg withdrawal period and that its not even approved for egg laying hens. Ugh! Can I ever safely eat the eggs again?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I sent a dead hen in for a necropsy. Results came back as salpingitis. I naively bought doxycycline 20% and have already treated my entire flock with with it for 7 days. But now im reading that I shouldn't have done that. I know there is a lengthy egg withdrawal period and that its not even approved for egg laying hens. Ugh! Can I ever safely eat the eggs again?

You're right, Doxycycline is not USDA approved for use in poultry.
https://farad.org/pdf/122015EggResidue.pdf

Studies are referenced in the above Farad article, but you can also do a Google or Google Scholar search to find more information about residues relating to Doxycycline.

One study reference in the Farad article can be found here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02652039109373956

I can't say if you can safely eat the eggs again, I don't know you, what your health is, what you are allergic to, etc. If there's still a concern after you observe a withdrawal period, consult your personal physician.

 

[Eggcessive]

Doxycycline is in the tetracycline family, and used more for respiratory diseases (mycoplasma/MG.) I don’t recommend it because of the long egg withdrawal time. For reproductive infections, I would use either amoxicillin or enrofloxacin, and only treat the one chicken. It is never a good idea to treat a whole flock with antibiotics, but just the ones with infection. Use an egg withdrawal of at least 3 weeks. No antibiotics except Tylosin are approved for chickens.

 

[Kdstewart83]

Doxycycline is in the tetracycline family, and used more for respiratory diseases (mycoplasma/MG.) I don’t recommend it because of the long egg withdrawal time. For reproductive infections, I would use either amoxicillin or enrofloxacin, and only treat the one chicken. It is never a good idea to treat a whole flock with antibiotics, but just the ones with infection. Use an egg withdrawal of at least 3 weeks. No antibiotics except Tylosin are approved for chickens.

Sorry to piggyback thus post, but my chickens were recently put on a course of doxy. Im having a hard time finding the egg withdrawal period. Do you know how long we should wait?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry to piggyback thus post, but my chickens were recently put on a course of doxy. Im having a hard time finding the egg withdrawal period. Do you know how long we should wait?

Welcome To BYC

You may find the information in this post helpful.

You're right, Doxycycline is not USDA approved for use in poultry.
https://farad.org/pdf/122015EggResidue.pdf

Studies are referenced in the above Farad article, but you can also do a Google or Google Scholar search to find more information about residues relating to Doxycycline.

One study reference in the Farad article can be found here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02652039109373956

I can't say if you can safely eat the eggs again, I don't know you, what your health is, what you are allergic to, etc. If there's still a concern after you observe a withdrawal period, consult your personal physician.

 

[dlm]

Sorry to piggyback thus post, but my chickens were recently put on a course of doxy. Im having a hard time finding the egg withdrawal period. Do you know how long we should wait?

I was never really able to find a sure withdrawal period. I read somewhere that one persons vet recommended a 2 month withdrawl. Im going to play it safe and go with that. We're on week 3 pf withdrawl

 

[Kdstewart83]

Thank you so much for such a prompt and thorough response. The entire purpose of this flock is to harvest eggs for personal consumption and sell overstock from time to time locally. This is upsetting to say the least.

Welcome To BYC

You may find the information in this post helpful.