Not an emergency, looking for input on chicken occasionally eating her feathers

[FluffyFaverolles]

Hello!! I had a question about my chicken and her feathers. Today I noticed her swallow a piece of down, which I’ve seen her do before, and just wanted to know if she’s doing alright.
She doesn’t pluck her own feathers, it seems to be when she’s grooming and one happens to come out. She’s 10 years old and recently been broody so is it possible she could be lacking nutrition at all? I read that it can be a sign of lack of protein.
My hens get hours a day in the yard to roam and she eats pretty well while she does, we also give them healthy leftovers of our own food, so maybe she’s just catching up? She’s also older so not as tip-top healthy as she used to be when she was young, I think she still lays an egg every once in awhile.
Maybe I’m just worrying too much, but I lost 2 hens last year to different issues that were unfortunately out of my control so I’m a little health-paranoid over my birds.
I haven’t noticed any lethargy or general change in her demeanor at all, her feathers look pretty good, no bugs and droppings look good, just the occasional feather-eating. Thank you for any tips!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Its possible the scraps are filling her up instead of chicken food so shes not getting enough protein. What are you feeding as their regular food?

 

[FluffyFaverolles]

Its possible the scraps are filling her up instead of chicken food so shes not getting enough protein. What are you feeding as their regular food?

They get this as their feed, which my mom gets for them https://www.paybacknutrition.com/products/product/organic-egg-layer-ration-pellet
I’ve seen her eating it and we do put crushed up eggshells in as well, she also forages a lot. Is there a better feed we could use if this one isn’t as good? I pretty much handle all of the chicken stuff other than the food research, since my mom has always done that for them

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If it's just a random piece of down every now and again that she eats when preening, I don't think I'd worrying about it.

At 10yrs of age, roaming the yard, eating/drinking, etc. sounds like she's doing o.k.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

They get this as their feed, which my mom gets for them https://www.paybacknutrition.com/products/product/organic-egg-layer-ration-pellet
I’ve seen her eating it and we do put crushed up eggshells in as well, she also forages a lot. Is there a better feed we could use if this one isn’t as good? I pretty much handle all of the chicken stuff other than the food research, since my mom has always done that for them

You mix eggshell into your layer feed? Yikes. I mean if you have a ten year old chicken you're doing something right but egg shell should be provided on the side, not mixed in. That's a lot of calcium for an old hen who isnt in her laying prime

 

[FluffyFaverolles]

You mix eggshell into your layer feed? Yikes. I mean if you have a ten year old chicken you're doing something right but egg shell should be provided on the side, not mixed in. That's a lot of calcium for an old hen who isnt in her laying prime

Ahhh, really? It’s not a ton of eggshell, but our poultry vet told us we should start putting a little bit in >_< I can definitely start putting it on the side if it’s harmful. I didn’t know that

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Ahhh, really? It’s not a ton of eggshell, but our poultry vet told us we should start putting a little bit in >_< I can definitely start putting it on the side if it’s harmful. I didn’t know that

Its harmful long term. Different breeds at different stages of life have varying calcium needs and layer feed is made for commercial laying hens in the first two years of life when calcium demands are highest (at least that's what I learned on here but I haven't done my own research so if you're interested I highly recommend putting it into the search bar here and learning more)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ahhh, really? It’s not a ton of eggshell, but our poultry vet told us we should start putting a little bit in >_< I can definitely start putting it on the side if it’s harmful. I didn’t know that

If this is what you've been doing for 10yrs, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

If this is what you've been doing for 10yrs, I wouldn't change a thing.

Good point. My mom does all kinds of stuff you're not supposed to do and her birds live for eight or more years sometimes.