broken feathers

[critterlover2]

Hello again,

While Dinky had been setting on this last set of eggs, she came out from her nest to eat and strech and I noticed on two occasions that she had broken a tail feather. Each time one broke, one on the left side and one on the right, they had snapped off about 2 inches from the end. As far as I can tell it hasn't affected her flight, although she is on house arrest because of hawks so I don't know if long flights are affected, but now she has 2 gaping holes in her tail. Does anyone know what causes this? Is she deficient in something? She gets oyster shell, free choice daily, I have not given her any vitamins or minerals in her diet. I hope this does not mean that she has a problem of any type. She is quite healthy otherwise. Thanks for any wisdom on this.