Sick from eggs? Please help :(

[Arizonagrace]

I have had backyard chickens for the last 5 years. I currently have 8 chickens of varying ages - the oldest being 5 and the youngest being 2.

My family has started to feel ill after eating eggs. It started with my 18 month old who will vomit if she eats our eggs or something with our eggs baked in. She does fine with store bought eggs. In the last month my husband and I have also experienced gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting our eggs. We are not having any issues with store bought eggs.

The handling and care of our chickens have not changed nor do any of the chickens seem ill. I have always collected my eggs daily, left them on the counter unwashed until we are ready to use them. We feed layer feed and occasionally kitchen scraps.

I’m at a complete loss and at this point we are not eating any of our eggs. Please help me.

 

[Hennypenny1984]

I have had backyard chickens for the last 5 years. I currently have 8 chickens of varying ages - the oldest being 5 and the youngest being 2.

My family has started to feel ill after eating eggs. It started with my 18 month old who will vomit if she eats our eggs or something with our eggs baked in. She does fine with store bought eggs. In the last month my husband and I have also experienced gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting our eggs. We are not having any issues with store bought eggs.

The handling and care of our chickens have not changed nor do any of the chickens seem ill. I have always collected my eggs daily, left them on the counter unwashed until we are ready to use them. We feed layer feed and occasionally kitchen scraps.

I’m at a complete loss and at this point we are not eating any of our eggs. Please help me.

I'd like to know too. I have AZ chickens also but they aren't due to lay until after The end of July. I think I'll refrigerate them just to be on the safe side. I hate getting food poisoning. Here's something I found on the web, maybe you'll see something that applies

 

[Hennypenny1984]

I have had backyard chickens for the last 5 years. I currently have 8 chickens of varying ages - the oldest being 5 and the youngest being 2.

My family has started to feel ill after eating eggs. It started with my 18 month old who will vomit if she eats our eggs or something with our eggs baked in. She does fine with store bought eggs. In the last month my husband and I have also experienced gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting our eggs. We are not having any issues with store bought eggs.

The handling and care of our chickens have not changed nor do any of the chickens seem ill. I have always collected my eggs daily, left them on the counter unwashed until we are ready to use them. We feed layer feed and occasionally kitchen scraps.

I’m at a complete loss and at this point we are not eating any of our eggs. Please help me.

I'd like to know too. I have AZ chickens also but they aren't due to lay until after The end of July. I think I'll refrigerate them just to be on the safe side. I hate getting food poisoning. Here's something I found on the web, maybe you'll see something that applies:

• Collect eggs often. Eggs that sit in the nest can become dirty or break.
• Throw away cracked eggs. Germs on the shell can more easily enter the egg through a cracked shell.
• Rub off dirt on eggs with fine sandpaper, a brush, or a cloth. Don’t wash them because colder water can pull germs into the egg.
• Refrigerate eggs to keep them fresh and slow the growth of germs.
• Cook eggs until both the yolk and white are firm, and cook egg dishes to an internal temperature of 160°F to kill all germs.

 

[knobhillfarm]

Presuming the eggs are stored properly and cooked to the USDA recommendation of 160 degrees, that should eliminate most of the bacterial possibilities. My first thought was maybe an allergy, but it would be odd for several people to become sensitive to the eggs at the same time if nothing else changed. No changes to the chicken feed or environment at all? No medications or supplements given to flock? How long are you storing them and at what temp are they stored?

I know it sounds crazy but sometimes we can convince ourselves that something is making us sick and it actually causes us to have symptoms. If you’ve eliminated all other reasonable possibilities, it might be worth trying a blind test with the store bought and fresh eggs to be sure it is truly the eggs causing the symptoms.

 

[raingarden]

Start with the most likely ones, E. coli and Salmonella.

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/diseases-humans-get-from-backyard-chickens/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/salmonella/symptoms-causes/syc-20355329

https://www.anitox.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-salmonella-in-eggs#:~:text= There are three ways Salmonella contaminates eggs:,contamination within the chicken’s reproductive organs. More

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Same thing happened to me, but with my dog. She got sick after eating a raw egg that was cracked. She eats so much crap that I thought giving her a cracked egg would be no different and would have no effect on her since she eats other bad stuff that you would think would make her sick. She was only like that for less than 24 hrs though.
Are your nesting boxes cleaned? Maybe it's a possibility that they could have ate something poisonous to humans that passed through the eggs?? I'm probably wrong but just making guesses

Presuming the eggs are stored properly and cooked to the USDA recommendation of 160 degrees, that should eliminate most of the bacterial possibilities. My first thought was maybe an allergy, but it would be odd for several people to become sensitive to the eggs at the same time if nothing else changed. No changes to the chicken feed or environment at all? No medications or supplements given to flock? How long are you storing them and at what temp are they stored?

I know it sounds crazy but sometimes we can convince ourselves that something is making us sick and it actually causes us to have symptoms. If you’ve eliminated all other reasonable possibilities, it might be worth trying a blind test with the store bought and fresh eggs to be sure it is truly the eggs causing the symptoms.

Good idea

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Same thing happened to me, but with my dog. She got sick after eating a raw egg that was cracked. She eats so much crap that I thought giving her a cracked egg would be no different and would have no effect on her since she eats other bad stuff that you would think would make her sick. She was only like that for less than 24 hrs though.
Are your nesting boxes cleaned? Maybe it's a possibility that they could have ate something poisonous to humans that passed through the eggs?? I'm probably wrong but just making guesses

Good idea

Oopsie just realized this thread was from 2022 lol
I hope the eggs are back to normal now.