Any other hawaiians out there?

[silkienewbiegurl]

Thanks fluffystuffs808! If you can't see my BYC images, will you let me know? My dog actually has very long legs, unlike a Shih tzu. She is a rescue dog so I don't know her pedigree but she does look like a Polish Lowland Sheepdog. Her fur gets really long (like a bearded collie) if I let it grow out ... and she runs like the wind!

I love the pics of your silkies too. So pretty! I REALLY want a buff colored one like you do but Daisy and Lily are buddies and I'd hate to add a third and disrupt the "flock."

Have a great week!

Joan

 

[fluffystuffs808]

Have a great week too!

 

[dianer29]

Aloha: Where did you all go? We live on the Hilo side of Big Island I have 7 SILKIES.Egg laying just started last Monday with just one so fas as I can tell. My "babies" are 23 weeks old.I sure hope we can keep this thread going as as need support from each other and of course island humor does not hurt. We moved here 10/2008.Our son is in Oahu getting his masters and we hope he ends up staying on one of the islands. I know I am not going anywhere.lol

 

[birdsofparadise]

Aloha! Silkie newbie girl is a good egg, lives Hilo side and has a couple of silkies too. Sheʻs an artist and a nice person to know. Iʻm all the way up in Hawi, so I donʻt get to Hilo except two or three times a month. I have a couple of dozen ameraucana hens laying those funky blue eggs and another dozen gamebirds, who turned out to be good egg layers and broody too. We have two community clutches of eggs going now, a a single new peep who looks like a Shamo.

Anyway, the biggest problem we had getting started was with feral cats. The mongooses hunt during the day and are scared away by our roosters. But the cats hunt at night and are very persistent. Tuck those girls in good, or theyʻll be kitty chow.

Any questions, just ask. I raised poultry on my farm on the mainland for 20 years before moving here. And while the problems are different, the birds are the same. And I apologize, I started this thread and the stopped getting any messages, so I thought BYC took it down for lack of interest. Now I see there are four pages of notes to read.

 

[silkienewbiegurl]

Hi dianer29,
Pleased to meet you. Glad to hear there are other silkie owners on the east side. I love my two silkies and they produce delicious eggs. Like C (birdsofparadise) said, I live in Hilo (btw, thanks C! I think you're good people too and a swell chicken man!). I'm a beginner chicken raiser with just a year under my belt. I thankfully have the same 2 hens I started with and while there are cats in the neighborhood, they only scare the chickens and they haven't made a serious attempt at eating them. Mine free range and nestle themselves in their coop at night. So, generally, my girls are little pets that are fun to have around.

If you have any questions, feel free to post it here since I'm subscribed to this thread and I'll eventually get it. Or, just send us a private message. I think you can find a link to my blog page so feel free to check us out! Welcome to the club!
Aloha,
Joan

 

[birdsofparadise]

Yeah, but youʻve got to see Joanʻs coop. Its the Taj Mahal of chicken houses! Please post some pictures so we all can see what "Moving on Up to the Eastside" really means in the chicken world.
Chuck

 

[dianer29]

S and B: I just love taking care of my chooks! I have 7 ,23 week old nutcases whom are not free range. We are getting them ready to put in our lanai.yes you read it right. I n there will be their 2 runs and a coop. They are still in garage after so much planning and changing ideas.I got my first eggs this week. I have 2 lavenders,a red. 2 black and 2 blue.It appears only one might be laying so far but the others are watching her carefully...lol.I do not have white ,need to sell idea to hubby for a new flock of white,patridge,buff. I know that 3 eggs equal one lg egg and we use 4 lg eggs a morning for my and hubbies breakfast so my seven will not be able to keep up which is my selling point number one!I have them on pine shavings and started them on paper towels for a short bit. I know it is real hard to get and pay for supplies here on our island. I have then on organic layer no soy, I had to order from mainland. I would much rather support the island though.any ideas? Just to let you know organic is the choice.and soy free. I give them : brown rice with and without garlic,ACV,cheerios and plain yogurt with fruit,dwarf apple banana ,and they know the difference ,no fooling them when I cannot buy them. We are putting in 2 trees after hubby buys a tool to get thru lava. Apples,Japanese cukes, grated chedder or mozzerella,salmon from the pkts( 1.24 ea at Walmart)wheat berry sprouts ,alfalfa sprouts,lentil sprouts(I love my sprouter and glad after all the years of having it that I really use it alot now for us and SILKIES,Chinese cabbage,apples,carrots,oatmeal(although they are refusing oatmeal and wasting it so I stopped for now.I tried a baked potato ,ignored it,tried mealworms but I could not get here on island so internet order arrived all dead...............Tomatoes they can love or leave it . The Silkies seem to get real annoyed at getting ANYTHING on their faces. I hand feed them alot.spoiled? yes!
Tell me more about your flock I have so much to learn and would love to share what I learn as well.
The reason for the lockdown are pigs ,cats ,dogs, mongoose etc.................. I saw what happen to my neighbors flock!
I am not sure if I have roos just yet.........
Aloha Diane

 

[birdsofparadise]

Hi, Diane!
Iʻm not sure if your note was directed to me, but let me chime in anyways. As my full-time farmer god-father taught me, chickens are living garbage disposals. If you can eat it, they probably can also. However, certain foods arenʻt healthy for them. I try to avoid anything with a high fat content (cheeses come to mind) or highly processed (since it probably has a lot of sodium). A little of either is OK, but a lot cab lead to liver and kidney problems. As far as "organic" feed, you can go to the feedstore in Pahoa or Honokaʻa. They both carry organic feed, but I donʻt think its local. They also have a lot of organic supplements and insecticides if you ever need them.
As far as egg production, be sure to fed them their own shells ground up and mixed with their feed, or ground oyster shells you can get at the feed store. Laying eggs takes a LOT of calcium out of their system and their bones will actually get weak and the eggs shells paper thin if it isnʻt replaced. I do both and havenʻt had any problems. But donʻt expect an egg a day per chicken. Four eggs a week each would be pretty good. Plus, they will go broody in December and slow down or stop all together. Its just their way of taking a vacation from motherhood.
I prefer fertile eggs which would require a rooster, but they will lay just as many unfertilized eggs. I just think that the protein content of the fertilized eggs is higher.
Lastly, donʻt be embarrassed about keeping them on the lanai. I read a post on BYC from a woman in Minnesota who wanted to know how to take up her guest bedroom carpet and refinish the floor since she had housed her flock in the spare room all winter. Auwe!
Good luck and keep clucking, Chuck

 

[dianer29]

BOP: (Chuck) Thank you for your advice. I do give them their grit and also the oyster shells I just neglected to mention it.I contacted Pahoa recently and they didn't have it in stock ,waiting for barge but not really sure if it would be on it." Dels" took my name after 2nd time of ordering from them and let the ball drop when I contacted them about my"special order" So I order from Countryside ,mainland and it has gotten "LOST" from the barge and I paid more for that, last resort and it arrived way too long after I was told it would get here. I have to order more real soon and I will be agitated once again. I wish we had a food mill on island that could get me/us what the heck we need. I didn't think about the cheese and I am so glad you advised me on it . I wash their pkg of salmon off and could kick myself for my oversight. They are like my babies.lol. Do you use ACV and DE(FOOD GRADE) ? Do you worm your chooks? I used garlic for awhile but stopped due to egg laying time.
I clean their home several times a day and of course clean out pine shavings from water as my girls now peck at the water holder while I sweep and the leader checks out the water first every morning before she will let others have some. I have never thought that these birds would make me so happy amd tired............

 

[silkienewbiegurl]

Hi Diane and Chuck!
I am a low maintenance kind of owner so every morning, I give the chickens some layer crumble or pellets (whatever Del's has in stock) and a little cracked corn that I hand-scatter. I also have oyster shells available and will bake and crush their eggs and give it back to them from time to time. They love grass and whatever they can forage for in the front yard. Sorry it is so difficult to get organic feed. I'm sure it will be a lot more time consuming to get them all-organic foods and I am worried about the day that I will have to keep them in an enclosed area if the cats or mongooses become a problem. I am lucky so far. I live in a rather busy neighborhood and not in the "country" so I really, really hope that pests don't become a huge problem. I will have to call you with some help, if I do!

Right now, I use DE in their hay in their coop. I had some problems with bird mites when wild birds started eating their feed in the bottom part of their coop so once I got rid of the mites, I've added some DE to the hay and haven't had a problem since. I bought a bale of hay for around $16 and it will likely last a whole year since it has been around 8 months and I have only used half a bale! So, it's a really cheap source of bedding for me.

Hmm, I haven't had to need to worm the chickens yet as I haven't seen any problems yet. All in all the hens have been really easy to raise.

Diane, your colors sound fab! I really would love some splash and buff colored ones but two is plenty enough chickens for this neighborhood. No complaints at all and flies are not an issue. Thankfully, they don't venture far and stick to the front yard, although they will forage up to the road (which can be busy) but have never walked on the asphalt so I think they are fine. Plus, people that walk by keep an eye out for them too.

Chuck, I'm glad you told me about the December brooding cuz they have totally stopped totally ... right after they started laying again. They are really prolific molters at around 9 months and from time to time after that and don't lay eggs when they molt either. They are a broody bunch and I don't get nearly as many eggs as I expected ... thankfully, I don't eat many eggs and whatever they do produce is enough for me. Hey, thanks for the kind words about my coop.

Hey, btw, do you folks want any roosters? My friend has 4 roosters and she is looking for a good home for them? Her sister told me they are black and slate colors and are really pretty but they have no idea what kind they are.

Have a great evening!
Joan