Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I've got NO eggs in the fridge
Sandy's health problems have put her out of action, and in any case the vet said permanent egg withholding - should she ever lay again, I'm going to ask you, @BY Bob whether there may still be amoxycillin in the egg.

Mary's gone broody in the heat but she's not actually sitting.

Janet's trying her best, but she's a three per week lady at best. And lately the heat has put her right off.

We ate the neighbour's eggs for Christmas breakfast.

I'm going to have to buy eggs from the shop before the weekend! Blimey. .

It's tough to eat store bought eggs. Unfortunately with small flocks it becomes a necessity at times. It will pass.

I'll be buried in eggs once the littles start up again. Lilly won't start again until spring if she ever lays again.

It seems wrong to say this but If you are lucky, Sandy is all done laying. Chin up though, you have new ones on the way. Soon you will be buried in eggs.

 

[LozzyR]

It is not an exaggeration to say that taking Lilly to see Santa changed my whole attitude about the Holidays. I was pretty down after Thanksgiving and the outpouring of interest, the happiness created and overall sweetness of everyone at Tractor Supply reminded me what the season was about. Then taking the other two to Petsmart just reinforced how nice strangers can be when given the chance. Everyone was fascinated by them, asked questions, and truly thought they were wonderful.

To say nothing about how well behaved the ladies themselves were and how much they seemed to enjoy seeing the outside world through the car windows.

I highly recommend it to anyone who really wants to enjoy the season next year. We have 8x10s up on the wall along with the pictures of my children when they were small. I am certain that the cats are put out that they are not up. I know my youngest daughter loved seeing them up with her.

I’m glad your girls were able to lift your spirits (I was going to say I was glad they they were able to give you a lift, but that sounds like they drove you somewhere!) In my new chook book, the people talk about chooks boosting their mental health, I think this is so true. You can look at those photos and remember how fun it was.

 

[LozzyR]

You are officially the first person I have ever seen complain about them laying eggs.

I’ll be the second; I wish Lucy and Chickie would stop laying!

 

[MaryJanet]

I'm grateful Sandy isn't makimg eggs at present. If she were sick in this heat, she might not make it.

I'm not worried so to speak, but I'm missing the hens' delicious contributions to weekend breakfasts. At the same time, they need to conserve energy in the heat so it's all good realy, just me having a sulk.

One of the large scale commercial egg producers in South Australia free ranges the hens over large paddocks on Kangaroo Island where there are no foxes - I daresay the hawks and eagles are well fed though. Anyway, they turn the hens over every two years for economic viability. He goes out at night and pops their necks by hand. While the economic imperative is a monster in a hen's life, at least this particular farmer faces up to it in person and does it quickly, by hand and at night. It's the best approach I've been able to find. I'll buy a dozen of his eggs next time I'm at the shop.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm grateful Sandy isn't makimg eggs at present. If she were sick in this heat, she might not make it.

I'm not worried so to speak, but I'm missing the hens' delicious contributions to weekend breakfasts. At the same time, they need to conserve energy in the heat so it's all good realy, just me having a sulk.

One of the large scale commercial egg producers in South Australia free ranges the hens over large paddocks on Kangaroo Island where there are no foxes - I daresay the hawks and eagles are well fed though. Anyway, they turn the hens over every two years for economic viability. He goes out at night and pops their necks by hand. While the economic imperative is a monster in a hen's life, at least this particular farmer faces up to it in person and does it quickly, by hand and at night. It's the best approach I've been able to find. I'll buy a dozen of his eggs next time I'm at the shop.

That's really what it is. They are delicious. You get used to having outstanding eggs when you want. We want them to be healthy most of all but the eggs are really a special thing.

As far as the amoxicillin with Sandy goes. I thought we went through that already. Why is the vet saying to never eat her eggs again? I feel like I am missing something.

 

[Shadrach]

That's really what it is. They are delicious. You get used to having outstanding eggs when you want. We want them to be healthy most of all but the eggs are really a special thing.

As far as the amoxicillin with Sandy goes. I thought we went through that already. Why is the vet saying to never eat her eggs again? I feel like I am missing something.

There are a number of drugs where veterinary advice should be that the eggs and meat are not fit for human consumption after administering to livestock.

 

[BY Bob]

There are a number of drugs where veterinary advice should be that the eggs and meat are not fit for human consumption after administering to livestock.

True but amoxicillin is not among them. I'm wondering what else they gave her.

 

[Shadrach]

True but amoxicillin is not among them. I'm wondering what else they gave her.

I don't know what the regulations in the EU are now. There has been a recent update where some broad spectrum antimicrobials have been restricted.
I think they dealt with a number of Penicillin based products.

 

[BlueBaby]

I'm not sure, but the reason why they have restricted antibiotic's so much is because of all of the over usage of them. They say that they have been used so much as a cure all, that some of the stuff that they were good for before, have now become resistant to them. When I used to live in Wichita, Kansas There was a low income woman there that her doctor had told her to go and get some of that antibiotic stuff that the use for the fish in the fish tank's because it was cheaper than the human type. She had an ear infection. Maybe that is why now, you even have a hard time in finding the stuff even for animal's anymore.

 

[BY Bob]

Soap Box Warning

I posted a pretty lengthy explanation on @MaryJanet thread about antibiotics, how long they remain in eggs, and the risk to humans. I can post again here if you all would like.

As a microbiologist, the misuse of antibiotics is an issue near and dear to my heart.

The use of antibiotics in livestock prophylactically has enabled meat and egg producers to keep the animals in poor conditions without them getting sick leading to lower costs per pound of produced meat. The side effect (aside from the deplorable conditions the animals need to exist within) is emerging resistance in the microbes that we already knew about. But perhaps even more frightening, this is likely responsible for newly discovered organisms which were never know to cause disease in humans before, such as C.arueus. For some of these organisms we have no known treatment.

So of course we need to limit the usage of antibiotics in the meat and egg industries. They need to keep their livestock healthy by providing healthier living conditions and (in my opinion) we should all be willing to pay a little more for our food.

Unfortunately we now are swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction and animals that get ill are simply killed when a dose of antibiotics might have saved them from a minor infection. Blanket rules are dangerous and some being always pays the price.

It may now be du rigor that if you give an chicken a dose of antibiotics you may never again eat their eggs or meat. To me that would be wasteful, not backed by any science, and frankly an overreaction.