Giving eggs back to chickens after de-worming

[JWidd]

Searched for an answer to this question and could not find anything.

I have a flock of 5 laying hens, saw some roundworms last fall prior to them laying, treated them with fenbendazole. Just found a poop full of round worms again yesterday, gave them all a dose of fenbendazole again last night. Planning on redosing in 10 days, not eating the eggs for 24 days total but wanted to scramble them up and feed them back to the chickens rather than wasting them. Anyone know if this would cause any harm?

It seems if the reason for the egg withdrawal is for medication residue in the eggs, so seems it shouldn't be dangerous to the birds.

Also, any tips for prevention as this is my second round of worms and not really a fan.

Thanks in advance!

 

[TalkALittle]

It probably won't be bad for the birds but every time they eat one of those eggs you are putting more wormer in them, therefore, you are increasing the length of time before their eggs are safe for you to eat.

 

[Toddrick]

I fed them back the eggs when I used Valbazen. I figured the dose in the eggs would just be trace amounts, so it wouldn't much affect the withdrawal period significantly.

It would still probably be wise to throw out the last five days or more worth of eggs rather than "recycling" them just to be sure. That's how I do it, just my opinion.

NOTE: It would be nice if there were explicit guidelines for this, since wasting eggs is silly, especially if you are treating a large flock!

 

[wdwendyd]

I have been researching if there is a withdrawal time for the eggs after using fenbendazole for deworming. Almost everyone on this board keeps saying you shouldn't eat the eggs for two weeks but I remembered reading that the UK says no withdrawal is necessary.
I finally found this post from TerriHaute:

Since it has been several months since I last wormed the chickens with fenbendazole (I use the liquid goat wormer stuff), I did an internet search for dosage and egg withdrawal for chickens. I was happy to find this March 2014 announcement on the Merck animal health website:

Quote: Here is the link to the entire article: http://www.merck-animal-health.com/news/2014-3-24.aspx

In doing some web research last time I used it, which was the first time too, I found several scientific research pages that basically said you can't easily overdose an animal on this stuff. So I was comfortable with the idea that it was pretty harmless except to parasites. To find out that there is no withdrawal period for eggs is the icing on the cake. Fenbendazole saved my rooster who had a bad infestation of gapeworm that developed over the winter. It is good stuff. I hope the FDA approves fenbendazole for chicken use in this country soon.

I hope this helps you!
Wendy in Portland, Oregon

 

[Toddrick]

So now there is no withdrawal period, or was there never one and people just chose to be safe because it wasn't approved/tested on chickens? Sure sounds like good news for the entire industry if it is right.

 

[aart]

EU often approves things before FDA.

Not sure that I'd apply that statement to any product with fenbendazole tho....just sayin.

 

[peastix]

I have been researching if there is a withdrawal time for the eggs after using fenbendazole for deworming. Almost everyone on this board keeps saying you shouldn't eat the eggs for two weeks but I remembered reading that the UK says no withdrawal is necessary.
I finally found this post from TerriHaute:

Since it has been several months since I last wormed the chickens with fenbendazole (I use the liquid goat wormer stuff), I did an internet search for dosage and egg withdrawal for chickens. I was happy to find this March 2014 announcement on the Merck animal health website:

Here is the link to the entire article: http://www.merck-animal-health.com/news/2014-3-24.aspx

In doing some web research last time I used it, which was the first time too, I found several scientific research pages that basically said you can't easily overdose an animal on this stuff. So I was comfortable with the idea that it was pretty harmless except to parasites. To find out that there is no withdrawal period for eggs is the icing on the cake. Fenbendazole saved my rooster who had a bad infestation of gapeworm that developed over the winter. It is good stuff. I hope the FDA approves fenbendazole for chicken use in this country soon.

I hope this helps you!
Wendy in Portland, Oregon

I was given panacur by my vet for a chicken with possible gapeworm.The vet told me it was pretty impossible to overdose.Also that the medication was similar to that given to children for threadworm.I also found that putting a dose on a square of heavy multi grain bread was an effective way of administration.I'm from NZ.

 

[enola]

It probably won't be bad for the birds but every time they eat one of those eggs you are putting more wormer in them, therefore, you are increasing the length of time before their eggs are safe for you to eat.

This a very good explanation!

 

[JWidd]

Thank you so much Wendy!

 

[wdwendyd]

Thank you so much Wendy!

You are very welcome! I think that everyone has their own thoughts about what is safe. In general, the USA is especially careful and sometimes maybe overly so. For me, knowing fenbendazole is approved in other countries without egg withdrawal is definitely reassuring. I, personally, will be eating my eggs, not throwing them away.