Layer pellets are usually only 16% protein....sometimes that's not enough, especially if they have other foods.I was thinking maybe they weren't getting enough roaming space as well maybe... Thought about opening the tractor during the day letting them lose and closing them up at night and see if it improves anything.. I feed them egg laying pellets and they always have grass and almost everyday they get some.sort of kitchen scraps
I like to feed a flock raiser/grower/finisher 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat. I do grind up the crumbles (in the blender) for the chicks for the first week or so.
The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.
Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.
Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.