chickens eating their feathers??

[Arkansas81]

my chickens have been eating their feathers for awhile now but not very often~i thought weird. now they are pretty close to laying i'm wondering are they doing this for more calicum? sometimes they will pluck out little downy feathers and other times they are plucking out their big ones??

should i increase their calicum? add oyster shell? ive got them on laying crumbles. they ddnt seem to like any other food but the crumbles (they are sooo **** picky) they also get scraps of bread, crackers, some fruit (but they ddnt seem to like much). they couldn't be molting? they are about 5 months old-give or take...?

i am preplexed to what that means..................?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Eating feathers usually means they need more protein. You can increase the protein in their feed, or give it as treats. High protein sources are mealworms, tuna fish, cooked eggs, diced meat, cat food (though this is also high in sodium so limit their intake).