Yesterday I bought some Penicillin G Procaine for my hen who was attacked by a hawk. She is doing good but I didn't want it to become infected because it is pretty deep. I gave her 1/4 cc with a 18 gauge needle in her chest last night. Today I noticed that she has some extreme diarrhea, giant splats Is this normal for a chicken on antibiotics, or should I be concerned? Also, is it safe to eat her eggs and if not, when should I eat them? Is it safe for me to feed the other hens her cooked eggs or should I throw them away?
Antibiotics kill the good bacteria (used to digest food) as well as the bad ones, so, while runny poo is common, it can be helped by giving probiotics with the food to stimulate the good bacteria replacement. I have a feeling you don't want to eat her eggs or share them w/the others, as the antibiotics are passed on. As for how long not to eat them after she's done with her course, I would think 1 week would be plenty of time, but I'm not 100% on that.
Standard withdrawal for eggs is 10-14 days. The horrific diarrhea will need to be combated by giving the hen a course of probiotics for a couple weeks after her penicillin. Two tablespoons of yogurt each day for a couple weeks and some organic ACV in her water will rebuild the gut bugs that were destroyed by using an antibiotic. Once her gut is repopulated you should not see any more of that nasty diarrhea. Good luck.
