Eating eggs from animals that have been treated for parasites?

[Eden83_haaretz]

So our chickens were suffering from diarrhea, and seeing how we hadn't given them anything for parasites or ameobas or the like, we decided to give them something (the pills have albamectin and albendazol). Now they are defecating normally, but I do wonder the indication of not consuming the eggs until after 10 days. Are there studies on this? Are the eggs harmful for human consumption? What do you all do with these eggs btw?

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you consume eggs from birds that have taken medication with a withdrawal period, you're also consuming small amounts of the same medication. Same if you were to feed the eggs to other pets - they'd also be getting doses of it. So personally I throw away eggs produced during a withdrawal period (no compost, just garbage).

I'm not familiar with the medications you used, so I don't know if there's any known effects on humans or other animals.

 

[McChooky]

So our chickens were suffering from diarrhea, and seeing how we hadn't given them anything for parasites or ameobas or the like, we decided to give them something (the pills have albamectin and albendazol). Now they are defecating normally, but I do wonder the indication of not consuming the eggs until after 10 days. Are there studies on this? Are the eggs harmful for human consumption? What do you all do with these eggs btw?

Feed them back to the chickens.

 

[nuthatched]

Feed them back to the chickens.

Then it would continue the cycle of un edible eggs for much longer.

 

[Callender Girl]

It's a tough call for me. I generally avoid medications for myself and my critters as much as possible, but once in a while, drugs are necessary to save my birds' lives.

I have eaten eggs after deworming my chickens with an antibiotic that my vet said is also given to humans who have parasites; however, the U.S. government has a multi-week withdrawal period for those eggs. I have some folks who buy and/or get free eggs from me, and I didn't offer any of those eggs to them until well after the withdrawal period.

I didn't think it was right to expose someone else to eggs that had traces of medicine in them. I also suspect many people would be horrified if they knew how many drugs are pumped into some of the commercial livestock that becomes human food.

On the other hand, I had to give an antibacterial to one of my geese, and withdrawal recommendations for it are anywhere from two weeks to the life of the goose. Because I don't always know which of the eggs was laid by which goose, I decided to toss out all of the eggs. The geese are done laying for this year, but I am planning to eat next year's eggs.

And, yes, throwing away those big, beautiful eggs tugs at my heartstrings. But I don't feel comfortable feeding them to people or other pets.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

It's a tough call for me. I generally avoid medications for myself and my critters as much as possible, but once in a while, drugs are necessary to save my birds' lives.

I have eaten eggs after deworming my chickens with an antibiotic that my vet said is also given to humans who have parasites; however, the U.S. government has a multi-week withdrawal period for those eggs. I have some folks who buy and/or get free eggs from me, and I didn't offer any of those eggs to them until well after the withdrawal period.

I didn't think it was right to expose someone else to eggs that had traces of medicine in them. I also suspect many people would be horrified if they knew how many drugs are pumped into some of the commercial livestock that becomes human food.

On the other hand, I had to give an antibacterial to one of my geese, and withdrawal recommendations for it are anywhere from two weeks to the life of the goose. Because I don't always know which of the eggs was laid by which goose, I decided to toss out all of the eggs. The geese are done laying for this year, but I am planning to eat next year's eggs.

And, yes, throwing away those big, beautiful eggs tugs at my heartstrings. But I don't feel comfortable feeding them to people or other pets.

Yeah I thought the same about selling them, just doesn't seem right. Don't know if they would be viable to hatch...? That's the only other thing I thought of. Our chickens have a rooster, but don't know if medication affects fertility.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My suggestion is to contact the manufacturers of the medicines you used and ask them. I don't know what Mexico's requirements are for drugs sold there. It is possible the manufacturers ran some tests so they can give you some good information. Did the label say they could be used on chickens and give a dosage? If they did there is a good chance they can give you good information. If it was not labeled for chickens then they may say you used it off-label and they have not tested for that. I'd ask anyway, see what they tell you.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

My suggestion is to contact the manufacturers of the medicines you used and ask them. I don't know what Mexico's requirements are for drugs sold there. It is possible the manufacturers ran some tests so they can give you some good information. Did the label say they could be used on chickens and give a dosage? If they did there is a good chance they can give you good information. If it was not labeled for chickens then they may say you used it off-label and they have not tested for that. I'd ask anyway, see what they tell you.

Yeah they are labeled and specify dosage, as well as time to avoid the eggs for human consumption. But since things are not always regulated appropriately by different pharmaceutical companies, I did want to ask around in the forum. Good suggestion, I'll try and see if I can get a response from them too.

 

[Mrs. K]

follow the directions explicitly