[chicken henry]

Hi all
        Started my hens on the wormer flubenvet last week now we are getting at least 2 soft shelled eggs each day could there be any connection folks or is this the norm for worming ??

followed instructions to the letter and they are all fit and eating well no sign of any kind of illness or anything would appriciate any advice on this never had any soft shell eggs before .

[ANHBUC]

I have not heard of it having that effect.  Usually softies are laid by hens who are new to laying, at the end of their laying life or they have a calcium deficiency.  There are also hens who seem prone to softies due to the breeding to get the maximum number of eggs laid per year.

If you are feeding layers pellets, providing crushed oyster shell, grit and avoiding too many treats they should be fine.  Green leafy vegetables are really good as they help the hens absorb the calcium.

Do keep an eye out for any signs of ill health just in case.  I hope that it is just a glitch and they will be back to laying good quality egg shells soon.

[JaK]

I very much doubt that the soft shells would be anything to do with Flubenvet.

[chicken henry]

Hi thank you for your replies.  i will put it down to them still being new layers , they were doing very well with egg production and i was well pleased with them they get lots of greens and they roam the lawn almost all day long , grit i do mix in with the layer pellets and spread some around the run , but as that was the only new thing that had been introduced thought i would ask on here for members thoughts .

will watch for any change in them over next few days and see what happens when course of wormer finishes .

[ehs284]

I'm a bit confused as to your worming strategy. If they are on Flubenvet mixed with pellets then they should be restricted to that diet and not get access to untreated foods or they won't get the correct dosage. I think from my own observations that they do notice that the pellets have been treated (smell/dust?) and so, if other foods are available they might eat more of the other foods and so have a poorer diet.
To the original question; there could be a connection between using Flubenvet and soft-shelled eggs, but it is not due to the Flubenvet itself, it is due to a change in diet.

[8doubles]

As above ,keep them penned in while worming and if you get soft shell problems keep them penned so that they have to eat layer pellets rather than graze all day.

A natural diet can not always provide enough calcium for modern laying hens.

[JaK]

Also make sure they have a good supply of oyster shell available, this will provide any extra calcium they might need.

[chicken henry]

Do apologise did not make myself clear , whilst they are being wormed they do not get to roam and the only food they get are layer pellets . i do grit in with their pellets and spread some around the run for when they do their scratching .

But to up date a little more it seems now they have not produced anymore soft shells for two days now so fingers crossed that it may have just been down to them being a little young .

Thank you all for your comments .

[Aidy]

bumping this..

Now this maybe a coincidence but as my girls have finished their worming week I too have had two softies on two consecutive days!!

I have always used Flubenvet as a powder that I mixed in their food but this time I opted for the layers with Flubenvet pre-mixed.

As far as I can tell its only the warrens that have been affected, the sussex and maran are fine so far.

[ANHBUC]

I think it is coincidence Aidy as my Warren that always lays the best quality eggs has also laid 2 softies over the last 2 days.  They are not being wormed at the moment so I put it down to the extremely hot weather.   

[Sassy]

Do apologise did not make myself clear , whilst they are being wormed they do not get to roam and the only food they get are layer pellets . i do grit in with their pellets and spread some around the run for when they do their scratching .

But to up date a little more it seems now they have not produced anymore soft shells for two days now so fingers crossed that it may have just been down to them being a little young .

Thank you all for your comments .

Are you feeding grit and oyster shell as they do dofferent things?