Since the girls are on antibiotics, I know we can't eat their eggs but

[AmyRey]

... is there any reason they can't?

I hate to just trash them after they've worked so hard.

 

[texasgal]

 

[TriciaHowe]

I believe in case a person has an allergic reaction to the antibiotic which is also why they can't have certain medications for a specified amount of time before butchering. This is what I have always been told

 

[AmyRey]

I mean can I feed the "antibiotic eggs" back to the chickens who laid them?

 

[TriciaHowe]

Sorry, misread the question. Me, personally, I wouldn't waste the eggs and would feed them back if that's what you want to do. I certainly don't see any harm with it. But I have also eaten medicated eggs before too

 

[Wynette]

It's recommended that you not feed them back to your chickens. There are trace amounts of the antibiotic in them, which could cause future antibiotic resistant bacteria (it's actually dosing them too high).

 

[Ariel301]

People should not eat the eggs with antibiotics because ingesting small amounts of them will encourage the bacteria already present in their bodies to become resistant to the antibiotics. It is the same with feeding the eggs to any other animals like dogs or cats.

However, I don't see a problem with feeding the eggs to chickens who are currently on the antibiotic in question, as you are just minutely increasing the dosage, which should have no effect at all. Unless you are talking about feeding them large amounts of antibiotic laced eggs, then you could end up with an overdose. Just do not feed them to an animal not on the medication, or after you have stopped medicating the chickens in question.

I know there's various opinions on it, but you might want to be careful in what form you feed the eggs, as it can give them a taste for eating their own eggs...and you don't want that!

When I have to medicate our goats with dewormer (haven't ever needed antibiotics on them yet thankfully!) I give the milk back to them during their treatment, as it is unsafe for people to drink, and I don't want to give a livestock-strength wormer to my other pets. But, I only do so for the short time they are being dewormed, as low doses of it can also lead to resistance just like antibiotics.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

I don't know that I would feed the eggs back to the chickens - one of the posters did mention it could throw your dosages off. However, if you have other animals - dogs, cats, horses, whatever - you could feed the eggs to them. In the case of dogs and cats, I would be sure to cook the eggs first.

I've eaten eggs from chickens treated with Sulmet with no ill effects. I think cooking them kills the med - but I won't swear that's a fact - just an opinion. Antibiotics would probably be killed in the cooking process, too - but again, I won't swear to it. However, under no circumstances would I eat eggs from hens treated with a wormer. The heat may kill the toxin, but I don't want to take a chance...

I know - I'm weird - just don't hit me!

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I feel the same way. It's going to be a higher dose of the antibiotic. I just toss them out until the antibiotic has cleared. My bird vet says 2-4 weeks.