Strange behavior with Non-GMO Feed

[Mother of Chaos]

Greetings. I've wanted to put our hens on non-GMO feed for a while, and a local feed store started carrying the Kalmbach 17% non-gmo layer pellets. It's affordable, and I was impressed with the quality as it looked and smelled fresher and better than my previous feed (Nutrena 22% pellets).

I planned to help offset the protein drop off with extra mealworms and boiled eggs, and have been doing that. But here's the thing.

The chickens really don't like the new feed. It's been about a month, and they eat less than I've ever seen. Probably about 20-30% less consumption. I can't figure out if they just don't like it, or if something more serious is going on. Here are my flock details:

- 14 heritage layers (Australops, Barred Rock, Sussex, and Delawares) confined in a large coop & run (total 12x32).
- They are 2.5 years old.
- Started molting about a week after I switched feed.
- I'm in south MS, so the weather is great right now.
- I should add that these girls have always eaten like pigs. Never seen them leave so much of their daily ration at the end of the day.

ETA: I picked up one of the Sussex hens and hand fed her some of the Kalmbach feed this morning, just to see what she'd do. She pecked a single pellet, but the seemed to really stretch out her neck to swallow it. Then wouldn't eat any more. I'm wondering if this batch is too hard for them? Maybe I could try fermenting some?

Thanks for any ideas.

I’d go with lightly moistening it, maybe. You don’t need to go as far as fermenting, since it’s already processed.

Too much water might make it turn into glop.