Hi all, my chickens are 21 weeks. I started them on layer pellets 3 weeks ago but am mixing this up with left over grower crumbles. I have read this is ok to do.... but as of yesterday we have eggs!!! So I've still got plenty of grower crumble left to use up. My question is this: does the coccidiostat affect the eggs? Can I eat them?, should I ring the feed supplier? I wonder how much of the medication, if any, is transferred to the egg. Really appreciate some feedback, as I'm not eating the eggs until I know if they're ok!!
If you do a search, I think you will find the answer to this question..I cant help as I do not know sorry.
Thanks roos. I searched...and revealed more concern for whether the produce will be organic (particularly in legal terms), rather than actual health effects. I have sent an email to the feed company (Barastoc) and I'll update with response. My feeling is they will tell me to discard the growers crumbles...and therefore need to buy more feed. $$$. I just don't like to waste things...guess I shouldn't have bought such a big bag, but it's hard to know how much the little critters will eat!
After Googling and reading a couple of articles, residue of coccidiostat in eggs is not a desirable thing. However, these articles are based on large scale production & commercial supply. I could not find out exactly what the ill-effects of consuming the eggs would be. I wonder if a couple of eggs here and there would matter? I have been mixing the medicated feed at about 20% with 80% layer pellets. They free range most days. Could this be an amount small enough to not worry about? Perhaps I should just throw the bag out and be done with my time on this issue! But the heartbreaking thing is that the eggs they've laid look so good...I really want to eat them.! I need a human health expert please!! Regards. Snowchicken.
Some starter/grower feed is medicated. I feed medicated starter/grower to my chicks and straight layer to my big girls. When the little girls start laying and if I have any starter/grower left, I mix it with the layer. I don't worry about it being medicated. The medication is sulfa based. Only a problem if you have alergies to sulfa. There is a thread on BYC about this.
What is the medication? If its amprol, doesn't matter. If it's sulfa based, it only matters for egg eaters who are alergic to sulfa drugs.
