Feed Issues

[HolleeR]

In my farming community, I have access to a variety of feed options. For example, I can get sunflower seeds or pellets and pellets of pecan, pumpkin, okra and peanut. I have always fed Dumour laying crumble. I have started supplementing half crumble and half sunflower seeds. This has caused my eggs to decrease in size by half. However, the eggs shell breaks easy. I am fine with the shells not being so hard since I have never been able to hatch eggs because they can't get out of the shell.
Which brings me to my questions...
Can I feed pecan, okra, pumpkin and/or peanut pellets?
If so, how much and how much laying mash?
What is causing my eggs to be so hard?
What made my eggs shrink when I started feeding the sunflowers?

 

[lazy gardener]

Your eggs got smaller b/c when you added the sunflower seeds, the bird's quality of nutrition went down. I wouldn't be quick to jump to the conclusion that your chicks don't hatch b/c the shell is too hard. IMO, a hard shell is also an indication that the interior of the egg is most likely of good quality. A bird who is lacking in nutrition, or who has metabolic issues will have a weak shell, and the yolk and albumen quality may suffer as well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sunflower seeds are also higher in fat which isn't good for your birds. They really should be on chicken feed for the majority of their diet with other treats fed sparingly. Not sure how good the various pellets you mentioned would be for them either... I would think nuts in general would be too high fat to be good for chickens?

 

[HolleeR]

Okay since the shell being hard is a good thing what could be the reason for the birds not hatching?

 

[lazy gardener]

Egg not fertile, too much heat, not enough heat, inconsistent heat, humidity too high during incubation, humidity too low during lock down or before hatch, bacterial contamination, genetic abnormality, poor nutrition in the parents, malposition of chick in egg...

 

[HolleeR]

I let the mom sit on them. After 35 days I cracked several and they were fully formed.

 

[farmerbrowne]

I had two little ones that I had to gently scratch the shell and take it apart chip by chip as they couldn't get through. Turned out to be the best roos I ever had! It's possible the egg tooth wasn't formed properly or in my case simply broke off