Ingrown feather

[Honestabe]

I have an americana named opal she is about a year and a half old. In her 1st year she laid eggs in the fall and stopped in the winter. I thought she would start back up in the summer but never did. Any thoughts on that? Anyway about the feather thing. She was messing around with the feathers above her tail and i saw this weird looking stub. The skin looked pretty thick on it. But i was wondering if i should leave it alone, it seems to bother her. ?? No picture but i will post one soon.

 

[Pyxis]

That was probably her uropygial (oil) gland, and her messing around was her spreading oil on her beak to apply during preening. All totally normal

 

[Honestabe]

Yeah just googled it, thats it! Always learning new things about my chickens lol. Thanks

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC This article may help shed light on the lack of eggs:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/why-are-my-hens-not-laying.64564/