Egg bound or slow down?

[Yay Chicks!]

First let me say that I just read the FAQs for eggbound chickens.

So, both my BO and my BR pullets (April chicks) lay light brown eggs about the same size. If they both lay in the same day I can almost tell a slight difference, but I don't know whose is whose. All four of my birds (the other two lay green eggs) have been laying well despite the darkening days. However, in the last three or four days I've only gotten 1 brown egg per day. I would not consider this unusual if it happened two days in a row, but any more than that is not usual for them. So, now I'm concerned that one of them is egg bound so I want to check it out in the morning before I have to leave for work but don't want to do any damage either. If a chicken is egg bound, will the swelling be obvious - a distinct difference from the way the other chicken's abdomen's feel? And here's a silly question - if I give her a bath in the morning, just how long does it take to dry off a chicken? (Just thinking about time and getting to work).

I'm hoping that the BO and BR are just trading days and have slowed down a bit, but, like I said, they usually overlap after no more than a couple of days. Oh, and, they both seem fine, just by observing them this morning anyway...

Thanks.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Sorry to bump this myself, but didn't want it to get lost. Thanks.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Have they started a molt? That will stop/slowdown egg production as well as shorter daylight.
Eggbound hens will crouch down and look to be pushing and you would definately see a difference in comportment.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

They're not molting. They won't do a full molt this fall, as I understand it, because they were hatched just last April.
I will definitely observe her for changes in behavior this morning when it becomes light enough to see outside. I'm just not confident in what I am feeling for.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

So, I went out this morning and felt both the BO and the BR for comparison. There doesn't seem to be a huge difference but I could definitely feel an egg shape in the BO's abdomen. She is eating and acting normally. Not crouching. Should I be able to feel the egg clearly if she is just ready to lay normally? Her vent is normal and clean. I don't want to put either one of us through this if she is okay...

Thank you.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Comment on my latest post? Not sure whether to stay home from work this morning....

 

[adkchickmama]

when our redstar had this happen she was obviously in distress. She was hunched , not eating or drinking and very uncomfortable. I took her in and gave her the warm bath a couple times, blow dried her with a hairdryer ,which takes a good while to get all the underfeathers dry at least 1/2 hour or more , and kept her in thehouse in our dog crate so she would stay warm and I could keep an eye on her. She finally passed the egg on her own.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Thank you, ADKchickmama. Since she doesn't seem to be in distress, I'll leave her alone today and check again tonight.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Well, got home to find a still warm brown egg in the nest box, but no idea who laid it. The girls were on the roost and Buffy's abdomen does feel larger than Anita the BRs. So, since I'm home tomorrow I think I'll give her a warm bath anyway, even though she is acting normally. Going out of town on Friday and don't want to leave any troubles with the pet sitter...

 

[Yay Chicks!]

At this point I'm just writing about my experience with this bit of worry and the decisions I'm making. Nobody appears to be in the mood to lay today. I've been home most of the day. They are all in the run. All eating, drinking, dust bathing and doing chicken stuff. Buffy looks fine and acts normal. So, I thought I would just observe and see if and when one of the brown egg layers did their thing...but nothing. So, for sure, if there are no brown eggs by noon tomorrow it will be bath time...