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FAA Frothing, IMO4T Seed Soak, Chicken Brooder Box

November 17, 2024 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens with a question about fish amino acids: why they froth like beer when poured. The lactobacillus inside gets excited by the extra oxygen and kicks its metabolism into gear. He notes chilling the FAA or adding a bit more sugar can slow the froth, and that humidity in the air makes it worse too.

Next, Printer Bear asks whether adding IMO4T to a seed soak is a good idea. Drake says yes: the seed formula's food, cleanser, medicine, structure, fuel, and minerals soften the seed coat, and IMO4T inoculates it so the sprout and cotyledons come up already covered in beneficial microbes, helping guard against bacterial wilt, damping-off disease, and cutworms.

The rest of the episode starts a multi-week series on Master Cho's chicken system, using footage from a past poultry seminar. Drake walks through leveling the pen, building the brooder box (about 35.4 by 35.4 inches, filled with rice hulls for insulation with a ventilation stack), the angled ramp that lets chicks self-regulate warmth, a small containment yard so weaker chicks don't get left behind, water pipes and feeders sized up as chicks age, and the day-by-day wall removal schedule that differs for broilers versus layers.

He closes with the first-three-days rule (just water and brown rice), when to pull the secondary brooder box once a third of the birds start perching (around day 55 to 60), and Master Cho lifting a raw egg yolk whole with chopsticks to show what a strong, well-raised egg looks like.

Questions answered

  • 5:45 Why does fish amino acids froth like beer when poured? — Lactobacillus in the FAA gets excited by the oxygen added while pouring and its metabolism spikes, causing the froth.
  • 8:08 How do you hatch eggs in KNF chicken keeping? — Drake starts a multi-week series on Master Cho's system, beginning today with the brooder box and pen setup.
  • 9:41 Does humidity make FAA bubble up more too? — Yes, humid air pulls extra moisture in and excites the lactobacillus further, so FAA bubbles more on wet days.
  • 12:45 Can IMO4T be added to a seed soak, or is that a dumb idea? — Great idea: it softens the seed coat and inoculates it so the sprout and cotyledons come up covered in beneficial microbes.
  • 19:08 Why must the brooder pen area be perfectly flat first? — Young chicks can sprain an ankle on lumpy ground, so Master Cho insists on a flat, level area before building anything.
  • 20:39 What goes inside the hollow brooder box walls? — Rice hulls, rice straw, or other insulating material like hemp hurd, with a pipe venting heat and moisture out the back.
  • 22:11 Why is the brooder floor built as an angled ramp? — It lets chicks move toward the warmer back or the cooler front so they can manage their own temperature.
  • 22:57 What size should a chick brooder box be? — About 35.4 by 35.4 inches, roughly a 3-foot square, with a wider double box for 200 meat-bird chicks.
  • 26:53 Why keep new chicks in such a tiny yard at first? — Free range right away lets strong chicks outrun weak ones, so a small contained yard keeps the whole batch even, like a playpen.
  • 29:44 How big should the chicken waterer pipe be? — Size it up with age: a small pipe for baby chicks, then medium, then a large pipe like 4-inch PVC for adult birds.
  • 38:08 What are the feeder dimensions for baby versus adult chickens? — The baby-to-medium feeder is 1 inch on the near lip and 2.3 inches on the far lip, flipped at day 30; adults get a V-shaped feeder with a roller bar.
  • 49:55 How does a broiler pen expand compared to a layer pen? — Broilers get their walls pulled back on days 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, and 20 since they're fed heavier and turned over faster.
  • 51:30 When do you remove the secondary brooder box? — Once about a third of the birds start using the perch, usually around day 55 to 60, you pull the secondary box.
  • 52:47 What do chicks eat for the first three days? — Just water and brown rice piled right at the brooder door, nothing else.
  • 56:09 How do you tell if an egg has strong nutrition? — You can lift the raw yolk off the shell whole with chopsticks without it breaking, unlike a typical commercial egg.

Topics: faa, fish amino acid, lactobacillus, seed soak, imo4t, imo, chicken keeping, brooder box, broiler, layer hens, chick feeder, poultry

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 Welcome and goals for office hours
  2. 2:37 I Ching reading: grace and inner strength
  3. 5:45 Why fish amino acids froth when poured
  4. 8:08 Hatching eggs and starting the chicken topic
  5. 10:23 Pure KNF Foundation membership and site
  6. 12:45 IMO4T added to seed soak
  7. 15:51 Chick brooder box video walkthrough begins
  8. 19:08 Flattening and prepping the brooder area
  9. 20:39 Brooder box insulation and ventilation
  10. 22:11 Angled ramp for chick temperature control
  11. 22:57 Brooder box dimensions
  12. 25:16 Rice straw mat and climbing slope
  13. 26:53 Containing chicks in a small starter yard
  14. 29:44 Sizing water pipes to chicken age
  15. 38:08 Feeder dimensions for chicks and adults
  16. 49:55 Broiler vs layer wall removal schedule
  17. 51:30 Perches and removing the secondary brooder box
  18. 52:47 First three days: water and rice only
  19. 56:09 Raw egg quality test with chopsticks
  20. 1:00:03 Wrap-up and what's next

Transcript

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

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