How long after treating with Sulmet can the eggs be eatten by humans?

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

Can I give the eggs they are laying while on antibiotics to them? Should I cook them for them? .........or should I just throw them out.

 

[chickiebaby]

don't know the answer but making sure someone who does know will see this.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If you feed the eggs back to the hens then you will need to lengthen the holding time. Not sure how long to hold for sulmet.

 

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

I really surprized it doesn't say on the bottle how long before the eggs are safe. It says not to slaughter them for ten days after the last treatment so that the meat will not have traces of the antibotic in it.

 

[mypicklebird]

oops, double posted

 

[mypicklebird]

That is a hard question. Read the label for your product- if you bought one of the sulmets that actually has chicken mentioned on the front- if you read the back it will say something like this:
WARNING: DO NOT MEDICATE CHICKENS OR TURKEYS PRODUCING EGGS FOR HUMAN CONSUPTION. TO AVOID DRUG RESIDUES IN EDIBLE FLESH- WITHDRAW MEDICATION FROM CHICKENS AND TURKEYS TEN (10) DAYS PRIOR TO SLAUGHTER FOR FOOD.
TREATED CATTLE MUST NOT BE SLAUGHTERED FOR AT LEAST ( 10) DAYS AFTER THE LAST DOSE, EXCEEDING FIVE (5) CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF TREATMENT MAY CAUSE VIOLATIVE TISSUE RESIDUE TO REMAIN BEYOND THE WITHDRAWAL TIME. DO NOT USE IN CALVES UNDER ONE (1) MONTH OF AGE OR CALVES BEING FED AN ALL MILK DIET, USE IN THESE CLASSES OF CLAVES MAY CAUSE VIOLATIVE RESIDUES TO REMAIN BEYOND THE WITHDRAWAL TIME. DO NOT USE IN FLMALE DAIRY CATTLE 20 MONTHS OF AGE OR OLDER, USE OF SULFAMETHAZINE IN THIS CLASS OF ANIMAL MAY CAUSE MILK RESIDUES.
WITHDRAW MEDICATION FROM SWINE FIFTEEN (A5) DAYS PRIOR TO SLAUGHTER FOR FOOD.

What these statements in general mean is that the company knows via drug residue testing that the drug will be gone out of the MEAT in chickens. Either the drug is not gone, or they do not know/didn't do the residue testing for eggs. So in the eyes of the FDA and FARAD- the answer to your question is NEVER. You should never eat them (eggs), never sell them (eggs), and never sell the bird as an egg layer without telling the buyer your used an off label drug. Does the average joe pay attention to the drug label beyond reading for a dosage for the species? Not usually. Most people use the OTC drugs without actually knowing what they are treating, they are guessing they have cocci or coryza and using sulmet, and they go and eat the eggs after 2 or 3 weeks as that is the time frame from ripening of yolk to laying the egg- but all of the actual ova a hen has the potential to lay are already there from the day she hatched. So if drug residue gets into an ova in her ovary- I suppose it could remain there. If the company that produces sulmet knows the answer, they are not forthcoming to the general chicken keeping public. Commercial farms are very strict about not using drugs off label because of the liability involved. People buying eggs from the store- like the labels that say not antibiotics/hormones used in the production of said eggs.... ivermectin, baytril, sulmet, all of the tetracyclines- are ALL off label for laying hens. So NO published withdrawal times for egg layers. Not what people want to hear, I know...
jess

 

[goldensunriseranch]

Link to the generic of this drug....(pdf file)

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/200-434o110306.pdf

excerpt of the section regarding eggs.

Do not medicate chickens or turkeys producing eggs for human consumption.

 

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

So does that mean, I can never safely eat their eggs ever again?

 

[goldensunriseranch]

Well I suppose it could be safe but it's never been tested for it specifically so it's an unknown. It's only been tested on animals for slaughter.

 

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

What other solution is there when a chicken or two in a flock gets runny bloody stools?