Teeny, Tiny Eggs after Eprinex or Ivermectin?!

[arazla]

We recently treated our flock for lice and mites after bringing in some new hens that were not in a great environment. We had a vet come who prescribed both oral Ivermectin and pour on Eprinex. After the 1st treatment we got at least one tiny egg - not too much more than 1" big. Now after the 2nd treatment, which we did ourselves, I've seen at least 3 of these and a shell-less egg. The egg without a shell and one of the miniature eggs was in the run, so it's possible we've missed more. (photo to the right is one of the tiny eggs after I cracked it, just to make sure it wasn't a nut from one of our trees).
I'm thinking it's the Eprinex because our Olive Egger only got that on the second round since we were having great difficulty prying her beak open and only did topical Eprinex behind the neck. I've seen some threads suggesting that there need not be such a prolonged egg withdrawal time with this drug and I'd really like that to be true. Our vet essentially gave us a 6 week withdrawal time if you count from start of 1st treatment and a month after the 2nd. We hate throwing the eggs out and were planning to eat after 14 days like google suggest. Just curious however, if other people have seen any strange egg side effects like this.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A small egg like that happens from time to time but not consistently. Had the eggs from the new hens been normal size prior to treatment or were these the first eggs from the new hens?>

 

[arazla]

They have been laying for a couple months, so they are newish layers, but they got consistently larger. Never had one that small even when they first started, although we had a couple shell-less ones. This was the first egg ever from the same hen, see below. These new ones post eprinex are half that size, almost like something you’d find in the robins nest.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Stress of moving will affect ovulation. The size of the egg is a different issue. It is odd to see a tiny egg that has yolk inside. They usually only have albumen.
That doesn't look like a mature follicle which means the yolk dropped into the
infundibulum before it was ready - like several days before.
It is possible but not likely the drugs affected egg production. Did you ask the vet about it?
I would wait till you get more eggs before you pass judgement. I've had hens of all ages occasionally pass a fairy egg.

 

[arazla]

We have had her since she was a one-month old chick. But I suppose she could be stressed by seeing the new girls and then getting these treatments. 2 out of 4 of my hand-raised pullets like to be picked up, but this one has always been the most skittish and not easy to catch. Good to hear you've had some fairy eggs randomly. Hopefully we can still eat her eggs again one day soon. They are so pretty.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Did the vet give you a withdrawal period for eating the eggs?

Is the lice and mite problem resolved?

Have you cleaned out and disinfected the coop?

 

[arazla]

Yes to all of that. Although I don't know if the mite and lice are resolved completely. As I mentioned the vet said 30 days egg withdrawal from 2nd treatment. Since the 1st and 2nd treatment are 2 weeks apart, it comes to 6 WEEKS total with NO EGGS!! However, everyone else suggests two weeks after each treatment and the vet said they honestly don't know for sure since there's very little research. So they err on the side of caution.