I bought a tropical island with an existing pineapple farm, new to chickens, unusual questions coming...

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SamuelPanama

SamuelPanama

In the Brooder
Feb 6, 2024
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Hello! New member with a rare situation and very unusual plans. I'm probably crazy so let's see if this will work out.

I'm from the US, outside Washington DC, but moved to Panamá in January last year (2023). I bought a small island 15 miles south of Bocas del Toro. Right now it's a pineapple farm but I'll be planting lots of other things. It's for my own and neighbor consumption; I'm not looking to sell anything commercially. I'm quasi-retired but young for it (former Software Engineer).

My island is only 2 acres and is a small mountain (good for rising sea levels). So to add on I'm looking to make a bunch of floating pods. My primary house is on stilts over the water. Each floating pod will generally be 12'x12' square.

I want to raise chickens on one of the floating pods as well as make the same pod into an aviary. So the entire chicken run would be 12'x12' with a dirt floor on top of marine plywood and then floating on custom floats (the custom floats is my actual planned business to supplement retirement income). I've never raised chickens (or anything other than dogs).

The aviary I'm planning to be straight walls up 6-8 feet and then come inward to an octagon with another 4' of height. Inside the aviary I'll have 4-6 chickens on the floor, a dozen or so tropical birds, and 2-3 iguanas. Two of the corner posts will be reinforced to support a hammock so I can hang out with my birdies. Since it's floating I'll also be able to tow it to other local tourist attractions to rent it out for special events.

So how crazy am I? What are my biggest problems? The only one I'm aware of is that the iguanas might eat my eggs, so I think I need to find a way to let the chickens get in and out of the coop but keep the iguanas out. If necessary I can add a screen ceiling to split the aviary vertically and keep the chickens and other birds/iguanas 100% separate.

So the actually newbie Q&A:

(1) New to chickens. I've never had any and have not grown up around people that did.

(2) None, looking to get 4-6.

(3) There are different breeds? 🙃 Here in Panamá I've heard it's hard to find the right chickens that lay eggs. Apparently there are other breeds that don't lay eggs? I'll have whatever I can find from a reliable source. Advice welcome. It's also possible I might grab some off the street. There are a lot running around free in town.

(4) Eggs. I'm vegetarian and love eggs. Plus it'll be a fun part of my aviary.

(5) Software engineer, portrait photographer, traveler.

(6) In Panamá I have a fiancé with two kids 18 and 23. I have three dogs, kinda. Mine is a 1 year old Rottweiler. I'm taking care of my step-son-to-be's littleish dog that is a one year old mutt. It's black in color and very friendly. Then there's Kiko. Black dog with white paws, a little smaller than my dog but he looks very old. He was already on my island when I bought it, but he swims between neighboring islands too. He seems to prefer mine so I consider him my dog, kinda. I'll be looking to get 2-3 more as guard dogs since the ones I have are all too docile. Besides my dogs the island has a lot of basilisks and some armadillos. I'm also planning on raising honey bees (fiancé's brother raises them and can help out).

(7) Found on Google. I joined to share crazy idea and find out how truly crazy they are.
 
Big welcome to BYC! You have such exciting plans! Can't wait to hear what you decide on...

In terms of breeds, there's production types meant to lay almost constantly for 2 years. This can lead to reproductive disorders and earlier death. Dual purpose breeds are better for eating, moderately good layers, and may take egg laying breaks to brood and try to hatch eggs rather than staying in production mode. They tend to live longer.

Choice of breed definitely depends on what's available in your area, what you could conceivably ship in/import, and whether you can tolerate birds that lay more moderately but live longer, healthier lives vs. maximum output.

Edit: game fowl are probably their own category, as they haven't been tailored to either egg production or meat production. I don't know how much they lay but I think they go broody a lot, which will cut in on your egg efficiency.
 
SamuelPanama said:
Hello! New member with a rare situation and very unusual plans. I'm probably crazy so let's see if this will work out.

I'm from the US, outside Washington DC, but moved to Panamá in January last year (2023). I bought a small island 15 miles south of Bocas del Toro. Right now it's a pineapple farm but I'll be planting lots of other things. It's for my own and neighbor consumption; I'm not looking to sell anything commercially. I'm quasi-retired but young for it (former Software Engineer).

My island is only 2 acres and is a small mountain (good for rising sea levels). So to add on I'm looking to make a bunch of floating pods. My primary house is on stilts over the water. Each floating pod will generally be 12'x12' square.

I want to raise chickens on one of the floating pods as well as make the same pod into an aviary. So the entire chicken run would be 12'x12' with a dirt floor on top of marine plywood and then floating on custom floats (the custom floats is my actual planned business to supplement retirement income). I've never raised chickens (or anything other than dogs).

The aviary I'm planning to be straight walls up 6-8 feet and then come inward to an octagon with another 4' of height. Inside the aviary I'll have 4-6 chickens on the floor, a dozen or so tropical birds, and 2-3 iguanas. Two of the corner posts will be reinforced to support a hammock so I can hang out with my birdies. Since it's floating I'll also be able to tow it to other local tourist attractions to rent it out for special events.

So how crazy am I? What are my biggest problems? The only one I'm aware of is that the iguanas might eat my eggs, so I think I need to find a way to let the chickens get in and out of the coop but keep the iguanas out. If necessary I can add a screen ceiling to split the aviary vertically and keep the chickens and other birds/iguanas 100% separate.

So the actually newbie Q&A:

(1) New to chickens. I've never had any and have not grown up around people that did.

(2) None, looking to get 4-6.

(3) There are different breeds? 🙃 Here in Panamá I've heard it's hard to find the right chickens that lay eggs. Apparently there are other breeds that don't lay eggs? I'll have whatever I can find from a reliable source. Advice welcome. It's also possible I might grab some off the street. There are a lot running around free in town.

(4) Eggs. I'm vegetarian and love eggs. Plus it'll be a fun part of my aviary.

(5) Software engineer, portrait photographer, traveler.

(6) In Panamá I have a fiancé with two kids 18 and 23. I have three dogs, kinda. Mine is a 1 year old Rottweiler. I'm taking care of my step-son-to-be's littleish dog that is a one year old mutt. It's black in color and very friendly. Then there's Kiko. Black dog with white paws, a little smaller than my dog but he looks very old. He was already on my island when I bought it, but he swims between neighboring islands too. He seems to prefer mine so I consider him my dog, kinda. I'll be looking to get 2-3 more as guard dogs since the ones I have are all too docile. Besides my dogs the island has a lot of basilisks and some armadillos. I'm also planning on raising honey bees (fiancé's brother raises them and can help out).

(7) Found on Google. I joined to share crazy idea and find out how truly crazy they are.
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Welcome to BYC!! :frow :welcome Glad to have you in our community!
 

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