also, i will say that i see chickens running wild all over the place. i also see mongoose all over the place. so, somehow those wild chickens are managing to keep alive.
i guess it's just a question of your tolerance for potential losses.
there are mongooses aplenty in hawaii, which is where i am. i keep my chickens in a coop/run that is mongoose proofed so i haven't had any problems. however, i've definitely been warned that mongoose kill chickens. i'd say that if those things take on cobras, it's fair to say that a chicken...