Feathers are something all chickens eat. Their bodies digest them as a source of protein and roughage. It usually involves fluff feathers, though, not the hard feathers.
There are some chickens that have a disorder called "pica". This can affect other animals, as well as humans. It causes them to crave non-food items such as dirt, pebbles, paper, even hardware like screws. This can result in crop impaction when a chicken has it. It's extremely hard to treat.
All you can do is resort to the coconut oil and stool softeners when you have a chicken with it. If the thing in the crop is hard or sharp, raw egg white can create a slippery condition in the crop to help move the foreign stuff through the digestive system.
There are some chickens that have a disorder called "pica". This can affect other animals, as well as humans. It causes them to crave non-food items such as dirt, pebbles, paper, even hardware like screws. This can result in crop impaction when a chicken has it. It's extremely hard to treat.
All you can do is resort to the coconut oil and stool softeners when you have a chicken with it. If the thing in the crop is hard or sharp, raw egg white can create a slippery condition in the crop to help move the foreign stuff through the digestive system.
