Wonky first-after-moult egg?

[WombatChook]

Hi all,
I have 3 isa brown hens, that usually lay light brown, sometime speckly eggs. They have all been going through various staged of moult over summer. Two have continued laying despite the moult, and have been giving me eggs every 2 days.
The third chook stopped laying for a couple of months. Her comb shrunk and it was clear she had nothing to do with the eggs for a while. She's recently started squatting again and her comb is getting bigger and redder once more.
And then this showed up in the nesting box today. It's big, the colour is really weird for my girls, and it looks like the colour could just peel off, with a normal white egg underneath. It sounded sloshy inside, so we cracked it (outside, in case it smelled), and it was like runny yellow custard inside. No differentiation between white and yolk, just yellow liquid.
I've never seen anything like it.
All chooks are appearing normal and healthy.

It's most likely a system kickstarting itself after being offline for a while, right?

 

[Debbie292d]

I just skimmed this very thorough article about egg quality and couldn't find your egg, nor your yolk.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

A lot of the issues with them is diet so I guess I'd just make sure they're on a decent chicken feed and getting calcium/oyster shell. But in your case, you may be right. Perhaps it's just a fluke. I guess I'd expect another one similar but not quite as bad before the good ones start coming.

 

[aart]

Might be a start up glitch.
But.....they shouldn't be molting in summer when the days are long.
Isa's are high production birds and susceptible to reproductive system issues.
How old is she?

 

[WombatChook]

She's about 20 months, and after a couple of weeks of looking decidedly scruffy she's soft and glossy again.
I thought the summer moult was due to their age (the oldest one is 2 years now), and the weird weather we're having in AU, but I really don't know.

Hopefully it's not a reproductive system issue - we lost one at the end of last year to reproductive cancer.

 

[aart]

She's about 20 months, and after a couple of weeks of looking decidedly scruffy she's soft and glossy again.
I thought the summer moult was due to their age (the oldest one is 2 years now), and the weird weather we're having in AU, but I really don't know.

'Right' age, but molt is usually triggered by the shortening day length.
Do you use supplemental lighting?
What was the "weird weather"?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

It is very odd for a chicken to be molting during the summer. Autumn and winter is when birds begin to molt. If she continues laying eggs like this, then I would assume she unfortunately has something wrong inside of her.

 

[WombatChook]

That's quite curious, then.
The weather in Melbourne has been cooler and more unpredictable than average, and the timing of their feather loss/moult did seem weird because I presumed they'd get sunburned or something.
We don't use supplemental lighting, sunrise is currently close to 7:30am and they're hunkered down for the night by 7pm.

No eggs yet today (they lay whenever they feel like it!), but will keep you posted

 

[WombatChook]

Quick update on the egg situation here: no eggs yesterday, although she did hang out in the nest box for a while, but this evening she stood in the corner of the yard and laid one. It appears to have broken inside her, but yolk, white and shell all accounted for. Shell softer and thinner than I would have liked, but aside from that (and being broken), everything looked reasonably normal.
And she seemed much happier after she laid.

Her vent looked normal, no bleeding or anything, but she will be monitored in case she becomes ill (I just about have the vet on speed dial !)