Any Hawaii Folks on BYC?

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha,

Mongeese donʻt really bother adult chickens, but they love to steal their eggs and terrorize them. They do love to kill young chickens. They can burrow, how fast depends on softness of the soil. Also if it is level or bumpy. Gotta have a trap going all the time and catch those buggas. Itʻs part of farming. Babies freak out and will stick their heads out of the chicken wiire and lose their head. But again, thatʻs just for the babies. I hate mongeese, I am at war with them for killing my special Cream Legbar chicks.

Aloha,Puhi

 

[splashofjoy]

Oh man, that sucks! My babies are inside (haha - in my bedroom!) for now. Not sure yet when I'll move them outside but not for awhile (they are only 5 days old.)

 

[SuperK]

Wow, no kidding. Perhaps 1/2" square hardware cloth on the lower 12" to keep the peeper's heads safe! What kind of traps do you use for them?

 

[Lordsia]

Aloha all.
I am in Makakilo and have had some bad luck already with my flock. My own dog killed 5 young ones. I didn't realize she could open the coop run door. I fixed that problem by installing a real chain link gate leading to the area, now she can't get to the run at all.
But the I lost the last two young ones to a mongoose. My run had a drainage pipe in it that I thought was blocked, well it wasn't. Now it is buried with rock and dirt and filled in with brick!
I ended up getting two adult layers last week. So far they are doing well. After reading all these posts about mongoose I think I need to rebuild my run to use hardware cloth on it all. The mongoose haven't bothered the two adults at all so far. The run is covered with the plastic chicken wire. I was worried about them getting out. I sadly under estimated the mongoose I think.
I am going to be getting babies again soon, so I need to get on this project soon!
I am not deterred though. I have wanted chickens for a long time now. I will get it right!

 

[AnahuluFarm]

Aloha! I just moved back to Hawaii after 8 years on the mainland and I'm so excited to be back home on the farm. My family has some land in Haleiwa, on the north shore of Oahu, where we grow a bunch of fruit (primarily oranges). A friend's araucana/silkie mix just hatched 9 chicks, which she gave to me. They are the cutest things! Both my dogs are obsessed with them... I don't trust them alone but it's really funny to see the dogs sitting with their heads hung over the side of the big plastic container the chicks are living in. Working on building a chicken tractor now for these little guys. Since its so much warmer here than on the mainland, how early do you guys put the babies out in the coop?

 

[GuavaChicks]

Hi, Waianae over here. Just getting started with the chickens. My question is besides Mongoose and Rats that might go after the eggs, are there any other predators out there? We have a fenced lot so dogs dont get in but cats sometimes do. Do I really need a coop? We have shrubs, trees and lots of grass. I just wanted to free range the hens and maybe try to suggest some nesting areas with boxes or old baskets. Any input is welcome! Thank you!

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha,

Once the chickens are adult size(laying), you donʻt need to worry so much, except dogs. Itʻs the babies you have to worry about most; and stolen eggs, of course.

Aloha, Puhi

 

[springbok7]

Just dropping our rock in the Big Island basket Our little flock is 5 years old, was 3 buff orpingtons and 3 wyandottes, but we lost the orpingtons, one in february and two in july. One of the lace wyandottes is also not doing so well but we're working on getting her weight back up. We think alpha tita Lacy may have been bossing her away from the food, since none of them have worms (in spite of all the rain lately). And now Niala coming. Aish I'm so sick of storms!

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha Springbok,

Your girls might just be old. Lots of people to get new chickens from on the Big Island. Let me know if you need help.

Aloha, Puhi

 

[SuperK]

Brada Puhi, how old is too old?
We are so close to being on the move to the Big Island it's time to start getting lots of info now. Our own plan is for 10-12 laying hens and a goodly amount of meat birds so since the forum topic is on your response to Aloha Springbok's post about age, I'd like to learn how old is too old for laying chickens too.