Fenbendazole causing molting/stop in egg production?

[eighthens525]

I treated all of my girls with fenbendazole for roundworm because I saw worms in one of their droppings. Everyone has done fine except one who has completely stopped laying and is molting on her neck feathers. She is under a year old so shouldn't be doing the annual molt yet. Is this normal? Will she start laying again? It has been exactly a month since treatment and she stopped laying when I treated them.

 

[All4Eggz]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @Weeg

Hopefully someone can help. I'm not exactly sure.

Good luck!

 

[swamphiker]

I treated all of my girls with fenbendazole for roundworm because I saw worms in one of their droppings. Everyone has done fine except one who has completely stopped laying and is molting on her neck feathers. She is under a year old so shouldn't be doing the annual molt yet. Is this normal? Will she start laying again? It has been exactly a month since treatment and she stopped laying when I treated them.

There could be a few things going on here. Sometimes chickens have early molts, one of mine molted around 9 months old. Decreased/no egglaying is normal for a molting chicken. Dewormers can certainly decrease egg laying temporarily, though a month seems like a long time, but short days (if you are located in the northern hemisphere) can also cause fewer/no eggs.

 

[eighthens525]

Ok thanks. Hoping it's just a coincidence that she stopped laying with the worming treatment and it's just an early molt. The other 3 I have that are her same exact age are acting/laying fine.

 

[jher77]

There are feathers laying everywhere here from mini molting and mine (all white leghorns) are laying less than half of what they normally do right now. I'd say it was just a coincidence and it's just that time of year for molting and slow egg production.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It's not uncommon for a bird under a year old to go through a molt.

Afik, Fenbendazole would not induce molt nor cause production to stop, however it is known to affect feather growth/quality in birds that are already in molt, so it really shouldn't used when a bird is molting.

There are many things that affect production - breed, time of year (light levels), age, overall health, feed, etc., etc. Parasites could affect production, so if she had an infestation, then this may be part of the problem.
Right now, days are short, but later on this month after winter solstice, days will start getting longer so she may start to resume laying then.

Do check her over for lice/mites. It's always a good idea to get a follow up fecal float to make sure that worms are still not a problem.

 

[Weeg]

Thanks for the tag @All4Eggz! I agree with the other posters.

Parasites, light, mini molt, early molt, health, breed, etc could be causing the issue. I don't believe its from the wormer though, more likely a coincidence with a different cause.

 

[eighthens525]

Thanks everyone! I have checked her over for mites/lice and she looks good. Eating/drinking/pooping normally. I also made sure she wasn't egg bound. I didn't think chickens would molt when they were 9 months old so this comes as a surprise.