Two chicks with broken nails — vitamin deficiency or something else?

[The Welch Chickens]

Yesterday my 5 week old chicks were on an “outing” outside and I noticed one had a hurt nail; the tip was broken off and it was bleeding. It was easily fixed with antibiotic ointment and some cornstarch to stop the blood flow. The broken tip fell off after some scratching in the grass.

Today a different chick (in their brooder in my house) also had a broken nail with dried blood in it. I fixed it the same way as the other chick’s.

I was wondering if the (weak nails?) issue came from a vitamin/nutrient deficiency or something else? A lack of scratching outdoors, maybe?
They eat this:

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Hmmm.... that is interesting and I have never had that happen before. Maybe try giving them some leafy greens and whole grains, at least that's what people are supposed to eat when their nails are thin and breaking.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Are their nails extra long? They should be able to scratch around enough in their brooder to keep them nice and trimmed. I'm thinking it's more likely they caught them on something, either outside or in the brooder. They don't have a wire floor, do they? Anything outside they could've caught their nails on?

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I had an issue with chick nails breaking for (at the time) no apparent reason. I figured out that a perch that they liked had a small crack in it that they managed to wedge their nails into and break when trying to jump off of it.