EE laid only 2 eggs in last month!

[Lynnski]

I have 4 chickens about 1.5 years old now. They all have been very productive and laying since about 21 weeks. Although they have all slowed down as the days get shorter, the EE seems to have stopped laying.

About a weeks ago i found a withered soft shell from her on the poop tray....

Didnt think much of it and waited..... Finally today:

The last egg i remember her laying was about 3 weeks ago. The only one who seems to be molting is the light brahma. The EE is eating, drinking, acting normal (still flying over the fence!) and they have grit and oyster shells all the time. Do i need to be worried? Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Top Rooster]

Has she had any injuries recently? I had a hen who was pecked in the eye and went blind in that eye, after that she didn't lay for a year but now she lays every day.

 

[aart]

They are slowing/stopping egg production to molt.
Not unusual to get some funky eggs around molting time,
both before and after when they start back up laying.

Take a close look for some new pin feathers coming in.
Some molt slower rather than dumping a bunch of feathers at once.
Some stop laying before even starting to shed feathers.

 

[Lynnski]

Yikes, i am so sorry to hear about your chickens eye, @Top Rooster ! Mine has no injuries that i can see but she is the one who is always pecked on. She shows no signs of any problems except that she isnt laying eggs.

I am leaning toward molting as @aart mentioned since it is both her and my first experience with it! I wont worry as long as shes acting normal. Thanks for easing my mind.

 

[Lynnski]

Im just checking in on this post.... This EE still has not laid an egg! About once a week or 2 i will find a shell-less mess in the nesting box. Everyone else is fine, laying perfectly, but this little lady is worrying me! Its been 3 months.

She is otherwise quite happy and healthy. She is the only one who can fly over the 5' pen fence and dig thru my garden for worms. She loves to sit on the other eggs in the box. The only thing i thought of was she is lowest in the pecking order and may not get enough of the oyster shell so i offer her some separately, daily.... not interested. None of the girls molted much, could that still be a possibility?

Any thoughts? Thanks for any ideas!

 

[aart]

None of the girls molted much, could that still be a possibility?

Did you check for pin feathers coming in?

 

[Lynnski]

Hi aart.... no pin feathers. Had a really good look when i washed her up, she gets pretty messy back there!

 

[aart]

Hi aart.... no pin feathers. Had a really good look when i washed her up, she gets pretty messy back there!

Messy from what.....watery poops or the soft eggs?

 

[Lynnski]

Luckily we use poop boards and she roosts alone so i can tell her poops are solid and normal with the occasional mostly water blast.... I have assumed that her butt is dirty and sticky from the soft, broken egg. So the poop is getting caught up in the feathers a bit. Ok, that was a lot of poop talk! Is there something i should be checking or rechecking?

 

[aart]

Luckily we use poop boards and she roosts alone so i can tell her poops are solid and normal with the occasional mostly water blast.... I have assumed that her butt is dirty and sticky from the soft, broken egg. So the poop is getting caught up in the feathers a bit. Ok, that was a lot of poop talk! Is there something i should be checking or rechecking?

Well, if eyes are the windows to the soul, poop is the window to the body hahaha!
Anyway, it's an important aspect of chicken keeping, gross as it may be.
It could be albumen and yolk on her butt feathers, or could be something like vent gleet or other non normal exudate signifying disease.
Do you know if the eggs are coming out broken or coming out encased in membrane and being broken after they land on the board/ground?