New in Hawaii

Well....I didn't know I was supposed to start a new member thread when I joined a few months ago! Oops.

I'm brand new to chickens. I have eights girls in my flock. Six Buff Orpingtons, one Australorp, and one Black Sex Link (who was supposed to be an Australorp, but ended up a Sex Link!). I love them all to pieces. They are super friendly and all just started laying a couple of weeks ago. We are averaging between three to five eggs a day.

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii near the village of Kawaihae on 1.35 acres. That's about 45 minutes north of Kona if you know the island.

Our climate is desert and the average temperature is 84 degrees.

We have very few predators, but the girls are in a coop with a run. They don't free range, because we DO have the occasional mongoose and Pueo Owl. At night, we have rats.

We also have two rescued standard poodles, two rescued African Grey parrots, a rescued Jackson's chameleon and the neighbor's donkey thinks that he is ours. I had no idea I would love my chickens as much as I do. When I go out and sit in the coop, they clamor to sit in my lap and they all run to be with me. One of the Orpingtons will even jump onto my arm and use it as a perch!

Thanks for introducing yourself! Nice to meet you. Do you have any pictures of your animals?

I always thought African Grays were fascinating. I never got one since I was always worried it would bite of my finger. I stuck to parakeets instead.

You might like to check out this section of BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/57/caged-birds-finches-canaries-cockatiels-parrots-etc

Aloha, and welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. My family and I recently moved from Hawaii and bought a farm in NW Montana. When we first moved to Hawaii we lived on the opposite side of the big island from you in the Puna district near Pahoa. I don't know if the mongooses are as bad in your area as they were in ours, but if they are even close to as many, you are doing the right thing keeping your flock in a protected, enclosed run. If we hadn't kept ours in runs we would have lost all of them to the mongooses. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Aloha.

Aloha. So glad you joined us at Backyard chickens.

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

Frindizzle said:

Thanks for introducing yourself!  Nice to meet you. Do you have any pictures of your animals?

I always thought African Grays were fascinating.  I never got one since I was always worried it would bite of my finger. I stuck to parakeets instead.

You might like to check out this section of BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/57/caged-birds-finches-canaries-cockatiels-parrots-etc

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Thank you for the link! I'll check it out. Grey beaks can be very intimidating... And they will get you from time to time! It's just part of bird life. I'll post photos when we get back from the holiday! They have super personalities that come through in photos.

Michael OShay said:

Aloha, and welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. My family and I recently moved from Hawaii and bought a farm in NW Montana. When we first moved to Hawaii we lived on the opposite side of the big island from you in the Puna district near Pahoa. I don't know if the mongooses are as bad in your area as they were in ours, but if they are even close to as many, you are doing the right thing keeping your flock in a protected, enclosed run. If we hadn't kept ours in runs we would have lost all of them to the mongooses. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Aloha.  

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Aloha - we are super lucky over here. I've never seen a mongoose at our 750 foot elevation. My fiance has, but a Pueo was hot on its tail. We primarily have rats and mice. So many mice! None in the coop that we've seen, though, since we used 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

P-Dog said:

Aloha - we are super lucky over here. I've never seen a mongoose at our 750 foot elevation. My fiance has, but a Pueo was hot on its tail. We primarily have rats and mice. So many mice! None in the coop that we've seen, though, since we used 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

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Hardware cloth is definitely the way to go. It has saved a lot of birds, eggs, and feed.

Thanks for the introduction, it's nice to have you here!

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!