Backyard Chickens in Suburban Honolulu

takeo808

In the Brooder
7 Years
May 24, 2012
55
2
31
Honolulu, HI
I just signed up to be a member of this site, but have been reading for a while. I've appreciated all the useful information and the general welcoming, community feel of this site. The only thing that I've noticed is that there is a definite lack of information for, and representation of, chicken enthusiasts in Hawaii -- more specifically suburban Honolulu.

A little about myself, my chicks (brown production layers) are two weeks old. I ordered two, but the super nice lady at Asagi Hatchery threw in an extra one. Ostensibly the chicks were for the kids (4 year old girl and 3 year old boy), but I don't think anyone is buying that anymore.

The push toward posting this, and hopefully starting a lively and informative discussion, was an article in the local paper regarding the growing trend in Honolulu of raising backyard chickens. I've noticed that this site lacked information, or at least I could not find it, regarding raising chickens in suburban Honolulu.

For example the most glaring contradiction to the gospel of "95 degrees for the first week...." is that my hatchery said eighty-five degrees for the first week using a forty watt bulb. I had to return my huge 250 watt red bulb and heat lamp in favor of the desk lamp with a CFL bulb. My chicks were content and comfortable. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had used the other bulb. Another example, which I guess most people would be jealous of, is that there really are no predators to speak of -- cats, dogs, and maybe mongoose depending on what part of Honolulu you live in (although I think they only want the eggs). And I've taken them outside everyday since the third day I've had them. The weather here is about 75-85 degrees everyday and it's only going to get warmer as the summer approaches.

When I started thinking about this post, I thought I would have more examples of differences raising chickens in suburban Honolulu, but right now.... Well, I guess that's why I started this thread, let me know what I'm missing, what I can expect, and any stories that we may find interesting.

(Note: not a thread for raising chickens in the country, nor chicken fighting)
 
frow.gif

welcome-byc.gif


There are a couple of folks here Hawaii, I hope they find your thread. There is probably a Hawaii thread if you look under where are you where am I,
 
My neighbors just came back from a trip to the islands...they commented on all the feral chickens that run around everywhere. They were telling me that they even saw people chasing some feral chickens out of a grocery store one day.

I was last in Hawaii back in the early 80's, I just don't recall there being a lot of feral chickens running around. Is there a lot of feral chickens on the islands??
 
You're right...theres not much representation from hawaii on here. Hawaii has always been strong in the chicken scene, but majority of chicken raising here has always been raising gamecocks for fighting, it's just part of the cultural influence. There's some feed shops on my island that only sell chick and gamebird feed. I dont think it was until recently that the demand for backyard layers and all that has equaled the gamecock demand. Most of the people I know on Oahu and Big Island raise gamecocks. But the number of people growing layers is increasing too.
I've seen a couple other people from Oahu on here so hopefully they chime in. The weather in Honolulu is pretty consistent so raising chicks isnt too difficult and you dont need much in artificial heat for them. Hope you enjoy them. I just ordered 8 chicks from mypetchicken.com, I'm excited to add them to my layer flock.
As for feral chickens....it depends on the island. Kauai is known for its dense feral chicken population. Big Island has plenty too...but only in certain areas and there all skittish anyway so they stay away from people. When I was going school on Oahu i didnt really notice too much....even tho i was in the country.
 
That makes sense...I was mostly along the coast on Maui (sp) and my neighbors were staying with friends on Kauai...I JUST did not remember seeing lots of feral chickens while I was there.

Thank you for answering that for me. Much appreciated.
cool.png
 
Last edited:
There is actually a bad feral chicken problem in East Honolulu. The people that feeds the feral cats in one of the parking lots has caused the chicken population to explode and become very concentrated due to the extra feed. When I was working on the Windward side of Oahu, I was amazed at the number of feral chickens in the area. From Waimanalo to Kahuku there are feral chickens everywhere you look, and every where you go you can hear them crowing and clucking. For some reason they like to establish their territory along the roadside. A lot of the kids in the area can be seen walking around carrying roosters under their arms. Unfortunately (depending on what side of the fence you fall on regarding chicken fighting) a lot of the kids in the country are brought up in a community that endorses the raising and fighting of game birds so the culture of fighting chickens is perpetuated.

NuuKamauKona, have you ordered from mypetchicken before? How many chicks is the minimum order? Do the chicks normally arrive in good shape? I spoke with a guy (Mr. Yogi?) at Kaneohe Farm Supply, he told me about an order that he put in (I was too late to get any chicks from the order) for heritage breed chicks. I wonder where he gets his chicks from, I didn't think to ask. Anyone here ever got chicks from Kaneohe Farm Supply? Or any reviews or remarks about the other feed stores/hatcheries on the island? When I got my chicks from Asagi, I didn't know that they did heritage breed hatches. Maybe I should have waited rather than getting the brown production layer. Oh well, next time. After all my research, I'm thinking Rhode Island Red or Barred Plymouth Rock.

As for the status of my chicks, I've had to move them to a taller box, but it's all for nothing. The two week old chicks (born 5/8/12) can now jump/fly up to the rim of the 23" tall box and perch. They have no artificial heat or light and seem to be doing fine. I have noticed that they area eating more, and I have to fill up the feeding dish more often. One funny thing is that in the past two weeks I think I've noticed something starting to resemble a pecking order. The larger yellow one will start flapping/stretching her wings, then the others do the same. The large yellow one will sunbathe, then the other two will. Finally, the large yellow one just started dust bathing, but so far she's the only one. (I really do need to think of names for these girls...my daughter insists on calling them Fat, Brown, and Loud despite the fact that I keep telling her that when they grow up they will all be loud, fat, and brown)

Well, I hope I hear more from other local backyard chicken people in Honolulu.
 
Hey Takeo808, another Oahu member here. A neighbor and I just put in an order at Asagi hatchery for 2 Silkie chicks each. The reason we chose the Silkies is that they are supposedly the most quiet and we are "illegal" here in Mililani. Hopefully their personalities are good and they remain quiet! We are both really excited about getting started. I would love to order an egg layer, such as a Black Australorp as I heard those are pretty quiet as well. Thanks for the tip about the Red Light! I was about to order one!
 
This is the first time i've ordered from mypetchicken. All the other hatcheries i've looked at want way too much for shipping. mypetchickens minimum order for hawaii is 8 chicks, and you can mix and match whatever breeds you like, which none of the other hatcheries offered. The only issue is that they hatch a certain amount of each breed each week and if you order multiple breeds at once you have to wait for a week when all those breeds are available. In my case I ordered some Rhode Island Reds, Black Australorps, and some Silkies. That combination won't be available until September which I dont mind because it gives me time to build on to my coop, but for some people might be too long a wait. It also seems like they ship to hawaii often, according to their FAQ section. But we will see how that all goes in september.
 
At first I was hesitant about getting the chickens. I'm not going to say that I grew up being afraid of chickens, it's just that I always found their legs and feet kind of gross (scales on a bird...yuck, and don't get me started on the toenails). But now, I'm pretty sure that I've caught the bug. My idea is to keeping playing with them while they are small, fluffy, and cute, then I'll get used to their feet when they're full grown. My coop was originally going to be a frame of 2x4's with conduit hoops and hardware cloth laid over the top...total cost ~ $100. I don't even want to really sit down and total how much I've spent so far. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of $400. The simple design has turned into a 10'x4'x6' monster of a coop/run. It's big enough for more chickens, and I really want to add more to my "flock", but I'm already getting the vibe from my neighbor that he's not too pleased with the ones I've got. If he makes a big deal about the one extra chicken, I figure I'll fill the void with the ten dogs that the law allows me to have.
 
yeah I know how that goes haha. I only planned on 5 max....and now it will be increasing to 12. And I still want more. I'm telling myself 15 max, and I want to hatch chicks too, so we'll see how that goes. What r the laws in honolulu regarding chickens?? I think in kona it's 1 rooster and no limit on hens in the residential areas, but i'm up in the farm country so i dont think there's much regulations where i'm at.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom