Welshie Needed Antibiotics...

[EJ Evans]

Greetings everyone!

I have an 8 month old Welsh Harlequinn that got a foot injury, the lacerations healed fine with some topical aid and some segregation and TLC, but she still had swelling in the foot that was not going down, so I took her to the vet. After an xray he was able to confirm no break in her toe (where the swelling seemed to be originating from) but symmetrical on either side of a joint and it had been a couple weeks with no change...SO, vet prescribed clavamox (14 days) to take care of the infection before it decides to enter into the joint and possible cause more trouble.

Here's my question, he said that technically we shouldn't eat the eggs while she is on it. But she's one of my best layers, and it seems such a waste to throw out 14 of her eggs when she works so hard for us and is a consistent layer (unlike my Cayugas).
1) How serious should I heed his warning...I mean I know antibiotics in our meat and eggs and stuff are bad and it causes resistances and stuff, but how much really makes it through to their eggs and how bad would it be to consume them?
2) If we follow the warning, any ideas for what we could do with the eggs other than just throw them away? Don't want to throw them in the pasture, because I don't want any of our wild predators getting a taste for duck eggs and coming closer in to investigate our hutch...don't want to put in compost pile as the dogs raid that once in a while...and throwing them in the trash seems just so wasteful!

We were only getting 3 eggs a day through the winter, and now down to 2 (that we can eat) with her being out of commission...any and all ideas for how to make this less wasteful would be most appreciated. Thank you!

 

[staceyj]

Simple solution.
Every day thank her for the lovely egg she just made for you, go in the house and scramble it up for her and her friends. You can scramble the eggshells right in there too. They will greatly appreciate it.

Sprinkle a little bit of cheese in there while you're scrambling it and they will think they hit the jackpot.

Seriously, you don't want to be eating her eggs while on clavamox which is the animal equivalent of Augmentin and a very important human antibiotic.

Don't jeopardize your own health or that of your family by developing a resistance to an antibiotic because you don't want to waste 14 eggs.

 

[EJ Evans]

You can feed them their own eggs?

Pardon my ignorance if this is a common knowledge thing amongst backyard poultry raisers, this is our first year.

It may need to be something I get past, but I feel like feeding her herself/something she made/her unfertilized baby is a little...odd..? I mean, perhaps it's no more odd than us eating their unfertilized babies...hmmm.

So here's another thing...feeding it to all of them...would then have all of them taking the trace amounts of the clavamox...rending my other females eggs inedible. So scramble it up and just feed it to her?

Thank you

 

[BantyChooks]

You can feed them their own eggs?

Pardon my ignorance if this is a common knowledge thing amongst backyard poultry raisers, this is our first year.

It may need to be something I get past, but I feel like feeding her herself/something she made/her unfertilized baby is a little...odd..? I mean, perhaps it's no more odd than us eating their unfertilized babies...hmmm.

So here's another thing...feeding it to all of them...would then have all of them taking the trace amounts of the clavamox...rending my other females eggs inedible. So scramble it up and just feed it to her?

Thank you

Seems strange, I know, but they love it. I even feed them chicken.

 

[EJ Evans]

Anyone had problems with them eating their own eggs after feeding them (cooked) egg?

That's the first thing Google spit out when I was trying to do more reading...

 

[BantyChooks]

Anyone had problems with them eating their own eggs after feeding them (cooked) egg?

That's the first thing Google spit out when I was trying to do more reading...

Nope. I feed my chickens and ducks eggs (sometimes/mostly raw eggs with the shell) and have had exactly one egg eater. That was a few years ago; and she was rather a nutcase anyway.

 

[staceyj]

Good questions.
Actually yes, I'm tired and straightening up the house for the morning.

Eggs are incredibly nutritious for CHICKENS.
It sounds super crazy,
But the average egg is 12% protein and contains a fantastic supply of amino acids and vitamins. Add the shell crushed up and cooked and she gets a boost of calcium as well.
Hard boiled eggs ( mashed)
Or scrambled are the standard go to food to entice a chicken who's not feeling well.
You are correct , i apologize, yes. This will just be a treat for her- you don't want to feed it to the others-
But in the future for instance , if you have an egg that is broken in the nest, don't let it go to waste, take it in and scramble it for the gang!

Also lots of people save their egg shells. Collect in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator until you have lots. Rinse and spread out on a baking pan , bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes or until completely dry.
Transfer to a bag and smash til very small. Chickens love it. Or you can use it in your garden as a soil amendment. calcium is great for tomatoes and helps prevent blossom end rot.

 

[lomine]

An egg is not an unhatched “baby.” The yolk of an egg is what provides nutrients to a growing duckling. The part that becomes a duckling is just one single cell on the yolk.

 

[chickens really]

If she is on antibiotics, follow the Vets advise and toss the eggs.. I would not feed her back the eggs that are compromised by the antibiotics..Makes no sence..

 

[BantyChooks]

If she is on antibiotics, follow the Vets advise and toss the eggs.. I would not feed her back the eggs that are compromised by the antibiotics..Makes no sence..

How would it be harmful? I'd just stop feeding them back once the antibiotic course is over to eliminate any miniscule re-residue. Antibiotics don't magically turn eggs toxic, the issue is the residue.