Is this too much to ask of my chicken feed?

[Chris09]

EVERY chicken, though? I could agree with that if it was only one or two of them, but it's all eight, and they're varying breeds. And, I'll say once again, the homemade mix they were on before contained flax seeds, which made up about 12% of the feed.

All it take is one bad egg and the rest will take on the smell.
Eggshells are not solid or airtight, air can move freely in and out of a egg and so can odors.
If you have one hen that lays a "fishy" smelling egg do to genetic defect and you keep all your eggs together then all the other eggs can pick up the smell of that one egg.

When you said that the smell was worse when you fed a fermented feed that told me that it is very possible that one of your birds has the genetic defect that causes her eggs to have a fishy smell.

 

[Chris09]

I don't know if they're heritage breeds or not; I got them all from the same hatchery (except the Australorp, which I got from a feed store, who got her from a different hatchery). My MPC birds are one RIR, one EE, one white Leghorn, two Buttercups, and two Fayoumis.

I'm hesitant about the corn because we live in a hot/humid climate. I've read enough to convince me that dry corn in my climate may be detrimental to my birds.

If they came from a hatchery than there not heritage breeds.
I would be willing to be bet by the list of breeds that you have here that your R.I. Red is a Production Red and she might just be your bird laying the fishy eggs.

 

[HennaRose]

They are all laying fishy eggs. Every single one of them.

I know because I've cooked one egg from each bird separately, washing the pan between eggs, to see if I could narrow down which one it was in case it was a medical issue or something. Every egg tastes fishy enough that it's noticeable.

Edited to add: The eggs are stored in an open ceramic tray like this one:

and used within a day of laying. I don't know how much contact or time they need to absorb flavors from each other, but less than 24 hours seems to be a bit of a stretch.

 

[HennaRose]

So, I'm not trying to not offend one subset of humans or another with what I feed (or don't feed) my chickens. I couldn't care less who feeds what to their birds, but I know what I'm willing and not willing to feed mine. Mostly, I'm trying to not get fishy-tasting eggs.

 

[Chris09]

They are all laying fishy eggs. Every single one of them.

I know because I've cooked one egg from each bird separately, washing the pan between eggs, to see if I could narrow down which one it was in case it was a medical issue or something. Every egg tastes fishy enough that it's noticeable.

Edited to add: The eggs are stored in an open ceramic tray like this one:

and used within a day of laying. I don't know how much contact or time they need to absorb flavors from each other, but less than 24 hours seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Depending on the environment a hour or less and you could get some off smells to transfer.
I'm not defending the feed your feeding, I'm stating from experience. I have fed feeds with much, much more fishmeal in it and never got a fish smell.


Quote:
What little fish and crab meal that's in your feed should never give you a fishy or off smelling egg.

ETA --
Ceramic is very porous and it can hold and transfer off smells very easily.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Whether your eggs are absorbing off odors from other eggs or not is not an issue. The ovum have been maturing inside your hen since the day she first hatched. Besides the egg floats around inside the hen's body cavity before the first layer of membrane and shell is added. Therefor there is a good opportunity for strange tastes and smells to enter the egg. I would be surprised if it was otherwise.

 

[mabell23]

I make my own feed, can't understand why the industry takes the natural grain or seed mashes it up turns it into a pellet. I mix oats, black oil sunflower seeds, corn, oat groats, sunflower meats, safflower seeds, millet and winter wheat berries, works out to just under two dollars a pound. Not cheap in the winter but my girls have freedom to forge and spring is almost here.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Sounds like a good idea is it cheaper than buying feed I never really though about making homemade chicken feed

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Just went and looked at the ingredient listing for the scratch and peck naturally free layer..... Here are my thoughts....

Primary ingredient is wheat, and linseed meal is in the order before calcium carbonate. Based on this (and what I know about rations and levels of these ingredients based on the nutrient guarantees for the fee in question), I am assuming that wheat is roughly 40% of the ration, and linseed meal is more than 10% (because it is listed before calcium carbonate, which is typically 10% of a layer ration)

Fishmeal and crab meal are lower in the list than the oyster shell, which should only be about 2-3% of the ration. That being the case, it is assumed that there is less than about 2-3% of fishmeal and crab meal in the mix, which is a typical amount.

IMO, your fishy smell is due to the high level of wheat and flax in the ration. Maybe try the scratch and peck layer that has corn?? That might do the trick.

Other option would be to use ISA brown or Hi Line brown layers (or similar genetic offshoots of those 2). Obviously, this isn't the preferred option.....

I am curious about the percentage of Calcium Carbonate in this feed. Calcium Carbonate is nothing so much as oyster shell and your ration also contains crab meal which is the dried up macerated shells and other body parts of crabs or other crustacean seafood like lobsters or shrimp. Crab Meal could be making up too big of a percentage of the ration and even being used as a filler ingredient because some seafood processors may even be paying the feed manufacture to take crab shells off the processors hands instead of land filling them or making concrete with them.

In my humble opinion the buyer should always be doubly aware when buying any kind of new age animal feed. In other words you are likely feeding Calcium Carbonate in the form of fish meal, crab meal, oyster shell, and some other source of Calcium Carbonate or limestone like perhaps more crab meal. But I'm betting that a chemical analysis will not show crab meal, fish meal, or oyster shell, but instead this feed will test positive for massive amounts of the naturally occurring chemical, Calcium Carbonate. The up side is that your hens will not suffer with heart burn.

 

[Chris09]

I make my own feed, can't understand why the industry takes the natural grain or seed mashes it up turns it into a pellet. I mix oats, black oil sunflower seeds, corn, oat groats, sunflower meats, safflower seeds, millet and winter wheat berries, works out to just under two dollars a pound. Not cheap in the winter but my girls have freedom to forge and spring is almost here.

At around two dollars a pound that's not cheap anytime of the year considering that one of the best poultry feeds you can get runs .80 cents a pound for there 20% protein breeder and .90 cents for there 30% protein starter (retail prices).

One of the reasons that a feed manufacture grinds there ingredients for a set feed and sells it as a mash, crumble or a pellet is that chickens cant pick what they want it eat. Over all a mash, crumble or a pelted feed is much better for your birds just because the birds are eating all the ingredients to keep them healthy.