Chickens' claws very worn down, to nail quicks

[deacons]

Chickens dig holes, I get that. But my flock seems to be on a hole-digging mission lately, and the ground here is hard and dry since we've had very little rain this spring. The ground in their run is a mix of regular topsoil and sand, but is fairly rocky.

Lately I've noticed that almost all of them have nails that are VERY worn down, more than I've ever seen. It's not on every toe, but many of them have nails that are worn this far down:


One even has what looks like very dry, damaged skin around the nail- it is hard and almost feels dead to the touch.

I'm not really sure what I realistically can do about this, but anyone have any thoughts? All the threads I find about nails are about nails that are too long and need to be trimmed!

 

[Eggcessive]

Did any of your chickens suffer any frostbite on the tips of their toes in the winter cold temps?

 

[deacons]

On very tips of combs yes, but I kept an eye on toes all winter and did not see signs of it.