should I eat the eggs and/or meat?

[messianicmom]

We have recently discovered that some of our chickens have roundworms. They are all healthy and actually laying better than they have in while. However, I am going to deworm all of them.
My two questions are can we safely eat the eggs we have up to the deworming - boiled for deviled eggs and just general cooking? The boiled for deviled eggs I'd really like to know since I can't break them open like I do in other cooking methods to see what's inside. Would hard boiling them make them safe and kill anything?

Second one: we butchered three chickens recently-one had a worm in her, so we tossed her out. However, there was a Roo and another hen too that my dh didn't find any during cleaning, but I am wary about whether we should consume them. My local farmer says as long as they are cooked they should be fine.

Can I get any feedback on these questions? I don't want to waste but at the same time, I don't want ourselves or others to be infected.

Thanks,
Rachel

 

[Judy]

As far as I know, there is no danger to you. It is highly unusual for a worm to get into an egg. It does happen but there has to be an abnormality, as the worms are in the digestive system, not the egg laying system. I can't believe eating a cooked roundworm would be harmful -- though it's not exactly appealing! At any rate, again, the worms should be in the digestive tract, which of course you aren't going to eat, anyway.

We've probably all eaten eggs laid by a hen with at least a few roundworms. They are very common, and a hen can tolerate a small load with no visible sign of illness. Unless you open the digestive tract during processing, you would never know it.

 

[redsoxs]

Yes, I X2 what flockwatcher says. It can happen that a worm gets into an egg but not very often. The real debate begins afer worming. Some folks worm and wait a certain amount of time before consuming the eggs again. Others never miss a beat. A matter of personal preference, I suppose. Best of luck to you and happy holidays!

 

[messianicmom]

I am withholding eggs for the full 14 day period after each treatment of Valpezen.

Do you know how long before one can butcher? I have two that need culling.

DO you have any opinions or info. concerning eating chickens of which you are unsure? I have two in the freezer that were part of three - in that batch, one had a worm come out in the gutting process. My husband required that we bury that one; but what about the other two? Can they be cooked well enough to kill the worms? He won't eat them no matter how long I cook them, but surely that's irrational unless they were sickly-which they weren't.

I know that there is no such thing as completely "worm-less" livestock, but what if they had more that one here or there but acted and behaved just fine before butchering? I just want reassurance that I won't be infecting myself and my children with the two in the freezer. Surely if I double cook the meat, allowing the inside to reach a certain temp. then we're safe.

Thank you,
Rachel

 

[the Ranger]

the chickens you have butchered should be fine. like others have said, the worms only live in the digestive tract and only come into contact with organs that you have remover during the cleaning process anyway. there should be no danger at all of getting worms from eating the chickens. even still, since chicken must be thoughly cooked anyway, that just adds a second layer of peace of mind. we have eaten eggs after finding a round worm laying on the roost one morning and we are fine, though can't say that it was one of the layers that had the worm. they were treated soon after.

though i must say that worms make me kind of squeamish too, and i don't totaly blame your hubby for being put off.

 

[messianicmom]

Thanks; that really makes me feel much better. I have to show him some grace as he was the one that did the gutting and found it in the hen and
it was his first time finding something when doing this; so I'll give him a break. However, I'll go ahead and cook them more thoroughly than usual; my children want some homemade chicken nuggets and the other can be soup/casserole- guaranteed to be cooked at least twice!

How long should I wait, after worming with Valbezen (I gave the first does yesterday; will do the next Jan.2), to butcher the next two that are due to be culled?

Thanks

 

[the Ranger]

i don't know about the product you are using but, i used Wazine to de-worm, and it says on the bottle to wait two weeks after treatment.