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Soft Eggs, Chicken Feed Formula, Baby Chick Water Recipe

Lee's chicken eggs were coming out soft. Drake says add more water-soluble calcium to the feed or water. Oyster shell burned to powder works too, and seawater covers the mineral gap since calcium is a metal, not just chalk dust.

Drake replays a 2011 Kim Chang video on chick feed. Day one to three: brown rice only, unlimited. Day three to fifteen: chopped bamboo leaves added to stretch the gut. Day three to fourteen: boiled egg yolk, sieved fine, standing in for mother's milk. After two weeks, feed shifts to roughly 30% fresh greens, 30% fruit or sweet potato scraps, 10% fermented imo, and 30% store feed. Coop floor gets three inches of straw (cut under three inches long), a dusting of IMO4, and ventilation running from the floor up to the chicken's beak and out a top vent, same rule as pig pens.

Korean workshop footage covers the adult mix: oyster shell for calcium, decomposed granite for grit (chickens have no stomach acid or teeth, so the crop needs grit), rice bran, leftover tofu for protein, seawater, and 200cc calcium phosphate for strong eggs.

Then the baby chick water recipe, mixed live: per 10 liters, fermented plant juice, 500ml OHN, calcium phosphate, brown rice vinegar, a five-herb tonic (angelica double dose, licorice, cinnamon, garlic, ginger), and lactic acid bacteria. New chicks land on a pile of brown rice, not bare floor. Waterer holes tilt down so chests stay dry, since wet chests cause pneumonia. Chicks that eat their own droppings get sticky butt, fixed with a warm wet rag. Pen size starts small and expands every few days so chicks size evenly by day 15.

Questions answered

  • 6:09 Lee's chicken eggs are coming out fragile — what's wrong? — Soft eggs need more water-soluble KNF calcium in the feed or water to harden the shell.
  • 7:47 Why does calcium matter for eggshells? — Calcium is a metal, not just chalk powder, and oyster shell plus seawater minerals keep shells strong.
  • 12:23 What's the KNF chick feed formula for the first two weeks? — Brown rice only the first three days, then chopped bamboo leaves and boiled egg yolk through day fourteen.
  • 16:44 What do you feed chicks after the first two weeks? — About 30% fresh greens, 30% fruit or sweet potato scraps, 10% fermented imo, and 30% store feed.
  • 18:15 How deep should coop floor litter be? — Three inches of straw cut shorter than three inches long, one and a half inches for broilers.
  • 19:41 How should coop ventilation be set up? — Air comes in low near the floor and exits a top vent, pulled by heat off a sun-facing roof; same rule for pig pens.
  • 25:35 Can I build a wood-frame soil floor over a concrete shed floor? — Yes, no need to break the concrete — frame it, fill with 4-6 inches soil and 3 inches grass clippings, then scatter IMO.
  • 27:56 Should I wait for comfrey plant juice bubbles to stop before decanting? — No, bubbling means it's already fermented, so pour it off now.
  • 31:24 Why add sand or decomposed granite to chicken feed? — Chickens have no stomach acid or teeth, so grit in the crop grinds their food.
  • 35:57 What is Animal Mineral D? — A seawater-based mineral solution, but Master Cho never shared the exact recipe, so plain seawater fills in.
  • 36:45 How do you strengthen weak eggs with plant juice and calcium? — Add plant juice plus 200cc calcium phosphate to the mix, more if eggs are still weak.
  • 43:39 What's the recipe for baby chick water? — Per 10 liters: fermented plant juice, 500ml OHN, calcium phosphate, rice vinegar, a five-herb tonic, and lactic acid bacteria.
  • 51:21 Why angle the waterer holes downward? — So drips miss the chicks' chests — wet chests lead to pneumonia and more die-off.
  • 54:52 What causes sticky butt in chicks and how do you fix it? — Chicks eating their own droppings seal the vent shut; a warm wet rag dissolves it.
  • 56:14 Why keep new chicks in a small pen at first? — A small starting area keeps chicks sizing evenly; expand it every few days until they get the full pen by day fifteen.

Topics: chickens, chick feed, imo, imo4, oyster shell, water-soluble calcium, ohn, lab, plant juice, seawater, sticky butt

KNF Office Hours is a free live Q&A every Sunday at 9 AM HST. Bring your question to pureknf.org/learn/questions or join live.

In this episode

  1. 0:00 Intro and I Ching reading
  2. 3:49 Membership meeting announcement
  3. 6:09 Soft chicken eggs question
  4. 10:19 2011 video: benefits of fermented feed
  5. 12:23 Chick feed formula: rice, bamboo, egg
  6. 16:44 Grown bird feed mix ratios
  7. 18:15 Coop floor depth and IMO4
  8. 19:41 Ventilation: floor to beak
  9. 23:27 Touring the Hubble Bubble coop
  10. 25:35 Concrete floor shed question
  11. 27:08 Comfrey plant juice question
  12. 28:45 Feed mixing: oyster shell, grit, protein
  13. 35:57 Animal Mineral D and seawater
  14. 40:09 Chicks arrive, rice pile setup
  15. 43:39 Baby chick water recipe
  16. 50:10 Releasing chicks onto rice
  17. 51:21 Waterer design, wet chest risk
  18. 54:52 Sticky butt cause and fix
  19. 56:14 Pen sizing as chicks grow
  20. 1:00:45 Wrap-up, next week

Transcript

Auto-transcribed with Whisper. Click any timestamp to play from there.

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