Easter Eggers stopped laying at 8 mos old

[aart]

If I could catch either of them, I'd feel their bellies.

Grab them off the roost well after dark at night, easiest time to 'catch' them.

 

[Lelilamom]

Grab them off the roost well after dark at night, easiest time to 'catch' them.

Just did it! I managed to catch one - she put up one heck of a fight and flew out of my hands several times but I managed to calm her down and feel her body. Her belly is very soft and her crop is empty. She otherwise has beautiful feathers and is not bony. She was eating today and ran around grabbing treats like the others when I threw treats out for them. She is the EE with a more distended belly. The other I didn't catch, but her belly isn't nearly as big. How can her crop be empty after eating? I've seen this before and am always puzzled. My hens free range all day and some come back with empty crops.

 

[aart]

My birds fill their crops at the feeder right before going to roost.
Hold their wings down against their bodies.