First, you need to mix hot water in with your batches. I just do it by sight & how the meat feels when mixing it. You want it to flow through the stuffer without stripping gears, but not be too soupy.
Also, if you are using the curing salt and hanging snack sticks to dry; you really gotta watch them. They cure really quickly compared to larger sticks of summer sausage. I break the ends off daily, as they are hanging, and test them by looks and taste. A little premature pulling is generally better than leaving them hang too long.
Finally, be careful to not over-smoke the snack sticks. I generally will only have smoke going to my snack sticks for 12 - 16 hours; versus about 36 hours for my larger summer sausage.
There can be lots of trial and error when learning to make your own sausages and I recommend doing things in small batches until you can get your recipes spot on. This will help avoid possibly ruining a bunch at one time. Once you get it, you will have something that is unique and everyone will be begging for more. Very rewarding!