Any other hawaiians out there?

[808momof4]

Hello hello! New member here from Pearl City!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Hello hello! New member here from Pearl City!

Welcome to BYC!! I am on Kauai, tho have some family on Oahu and make it there a few times a year . Beautiful island but ho... da traffic!!!
How many chickens do you have and how long have you been at this? What inspired you to start a flock? Did you raise chickens as a kid? What kind of set up do you have for them and what would you do differently? I'm just being niele

I currently have 8 hens. 3 Buff Orp, 1 Lt Brahma, 1 Americana, 1 Barred Rock and 2 half wild/half cinnamon. I know county says 4 hens ... 1 son lives next door on another property and 2 aunties on another, it's a fairly rural neighborhood and I can't help but have chicken math -with the wild chickens in the trees and hunting dogs everywhere. I'm thinking maybe a kept flock is ok- I had as a kid, and have had this flock for about 1 year, with plenty mistakes and successes. Just started to sell some eggs to help with feed! They go like hotcakes.
Our 6 kids are grown. We also have 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses.
Glad you joined in. I hope to see you around enjoying the site and it's wise ol' birds. It has surely saved me a few times and my flock, that I dearly love, are much better for it.
A hui ho, aloha!!

 

[808momof4]

Welcome to BYC!! I am on Kauai, tho have some family on Oahu and make it there a few times a year . Beautiful island but ho... da traffic!!!
How many chickens do you have and how long have you been at this? What inspired you to start a flock? Did you raise chickens as a kid? What kind of set up do you have for them and what would you do differently? I'm just being niele

I currently have 8 hens. 3 Buff Orp, 1 Lt Brahma, 1 Americana, 1 Barred Rock and 2 half wild/half cinnamon. I know county says 4 hens ... 1 son lives next door on another property and 2 aunties on another, it's a fairly rural neighborhood and I can't help but have chicken math -with the wild chickens in the trees and hunting dogs everywhere. I'm thinking maybe a kept flock is ok- I had as a kid, and have had this flock for about 1 year, with plenty mistakes and successes. Just started to sell some eggs to help with feed! They go like hotcakes.
Our 6 kids are grown. We also have 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses.
Glad you joined in. I hope to see you around enjoying the site and it's wise ol' birds. It has surely saved me a few times and my flock, that I dearly love, are much better for it.
A hui ho, aloha!!

Yeah, my husband and I are starting to feel really crowded out here on Oahu. The traffic is bad, but not as bad as it was when we lived in Ewa Beach. We live in Pacific Palisades in Pearl City and have a perimeter lot, so we have conservation land behind us. We brought home 9 chicks (figuring our street had enough wild chickens to make our owning more than 4 no big deal). I want a pygmy goat, but not sure hubby will let me. LOL we also have 2 huge dogs, 2 cats, and 7 fish. I homeschool our 4 children who are 11, 9, 8, and 3. We have been talking about moving outer island for a few months. I'm not sure we can, but we really would love to.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Yeah, my husband and I are starting to feel really crowded out here on Oahu. The traffic is bad, but not as bad as it was when we lived in Ewa Beach. We live in Pacific Palisades in Pearl City and have a perimeter lot, so we have conservation land behind us. We brought home 9 chicks (figuring our street had enough wild chickens to make our owning more than 4 no big deal). I want a pygmy goat, but not sure hubby will let me. LOL we also have 2 huge dogs, 2 cats, and 7 fish. I homeschool our 4 children who are 11, 9, 8, and 3. We have been talking about moving outer island for a few months. I'm not sure we can, but we really would love to.

Wow! You Have your hands full! Good fun! Glad you are able to home school your children. My daughter just started to home school her two this year. She likes it a lot and has lots of field trip adventures. My grandkids sound happier too. I'm sure your chickens are a great ongoing school project for you all. I grew up with animals and it was one of my best memories and esteem builders. Patience and kindness, plus the science is amazing!! How old is your flock, how are you housing them and do you free range?
I started with one coop, then added a run, then added another coop and am now expanding their run. With the agreement I will quit letting them out to free range the yard. I don't know... I love my happy chickens and think they are as fun as can be but if they quit getting in trouble with hubby I could probably sneak some more in.

 

[808momof4]

Wow! You Have your hands full! Good fun! Glad you are able to home school your children. My daughter just started to home school her two this year. She likes it a lot and has lots of field trip adventures. My grandkids sound happier too. I'm sure your chickens are a great ongoing school project for you all. I grew up with animals and it was one of my best memories and esteem builders. Patience and kindness, plus the science is amazing!! How old is your flock, how are you housing them and do you free range?
I started with one coop, then added a run, then added another coop and am now expanding their run. With the agreement I will quit letting them out to free range the yard. I don't know... I love my happy chickens and think they are as fun as can be but if they quit getting in trouble with hubby I could probably sneak some more in.

The feathered girls are 2 weeks old yesterday. We are building a coop for them with a small run (so we can sleep in maybe once in a while) but plan to free range them in the yard and conservation land behind our house. We will keep them in the coop and run exclusively for a few weeks until we know they will return to the coop every night.

Homeschooling is a LOT of work, but so rewarding when you get to see your kids discover and conquer tough things.

 

[TropicalBabies]

The feathered girls are 2 weeks old yesterday. We are building a coop for them with a small run (so we can sleep in maybe once in a while) but plan to free range them in the yard and conservation land behind our house. We will keep them in the coop and run exclusively for a few weeks until we know they will return to the coop every night.

Homeschooling is a LOT of work, but so rewarding when you get to see your kids discover and conquer tough things.

My cats wanted to eat my chickens till they got some size. I hope you are able to keep a good eye on them while they are young and while they free range. I'm sure there is some hungry feral cats out back, maybe dogs too...? What breeds did you get? Do you plan to eat the eggs? Well, you are all going to have a blast send photos of coop. I love to see what people do and how clever they are.

 

[Stephh0701]

Aloha!

My family is new to the chicken game (however I've lived here my whole life and have Brought home many feral chicks before releasing them as a child). We just got 6 isa brown pullets about a week ago (although I suspect one is a Male due to his coloring) and I plan to get silkies as soon as I can get my hands on some.. which is proving to be difficult. Kaneohe farm supply had some but they were all bought up 15 minutes before I got there to pick some out (I called 40 minutes before to check they still had them ). Does anyone know of anywhere else that hatches silkies? Asahi hatchery said they'll have some by the end of the month and I've reserved a few but would love to get my hands on some sooner than that if possible, if only so I dont have to prolong the amount of time we spend in the "chick faze" as there very cute but do require a lot of attention and with 4 children and large home I'm finding it fun but much more active around here. The kids love the chicks and my 3 and 1 year old are very loving and gentle (dont worry I never leave them unsupervised with the chicks) and my 12 and 8 year old love sitting and letting the chicks jump all over them.. but they're not much help with cleaning up. I suppose that's step 2 of the chick plan... get the older two into cleaning after them. Anyway. Any advice or heads up on helpful info would be great... and also does anyone know the cheapest place for supplies? Coops are proving to be way too much so we've modified a dog house with a lifting roof for a nesting area and we've built a small coop, but they'll be grown out of that before roo long I'm sure and if we didnt have to build anything else that would be great, but its seeming like the most affordable way is to just build. Overall I'm super excited and happy to have finally started this chicken journey (as ive been begging my husband for years to let me bring some layers home!)

 

[TropicalBabies]

Aloha!

My family is new to the chicken game (however I've lived here my whole life and have Brought home many feral chicks before releasing them as a child). We just got 6 isa brown pullets about a week ago (although I suspect one is a Male due to his coloring) and I plan to get silkies as soon as I can get my hands on some.. which is proving to be difficult. Kaneohe farm supply had some but they were all bought up 15 minutes before I got there to pick some out (I called 40 minutes before to check they still had them ). Does anyone know of anywhere else that hatches silkies? Asahi hatchery said they'll have some by the end of the month and I've reserved a few but would love to get my hands on some sooner than that if possible, if only so I dont have to prolong the amount of time we spend in the "chick faze" as there very cute but do require a lot of attention and with 4 children and large home I'm finding it fun but much more active around here. The kids love the chicks and my 3 and 1 year old are very loving and gentle (dont worry I never leave them unsupervised with the chicks) and my 12 and 8 year old love sitting and letting the chicks jump all over them.. but they're not much help with cleaning up. I suppose that's step 2 of the chick plan... get the older two into cleaning after them. Anyway. Any advice or heads up on helpful info would be great... and also does anyone know the cheapest place for supplies? Coops are proving to be way too much so we've modified a dog house with a lifting roof for a nesting area and we've built a small coop, but they'll be grown out of that before roo long I'm sure and if we didnt have to build anything else that would be great, but its seeming like the most affordable way is to just build. Overall I'm super excited and happy to have finally started this chicken journey (as ive been begging my husband for years to let me bring some layers home!)

Aloha from Kauai and welcome to BYC!
One of our feed stores did refer me to a breeder to pick up more like sized chicks and also check Craigslist. We get lots of people posting chickens of all sorts. Try 'community' and 'farm and garden'. Tis the season, should be lots out there! I understand you wanting to do all chicks at one time. Introducing chickens is always tough for me. The pecking order is nerve racking, as I am sure you know if you get them close while they are young they blend in two shakes.
I built my coop in a few days for under $100 for the small and under $200 for the big. Run cost more but honey cut pots from dying forest and lots of used material like roof was used. It really does not take much and you can add as you go. You just need safety from predators, shade from sun and protection from rain, roosts and doors... and easy to access for cleaning. Check out the forums for coop builds and try imitate one you like with LOTS of ventilation. Will you be free ranging or making a run? Here are some photos of what i did and it did not take too many tools or cost too much and reusing materials is always a plus. I just made this box so the young ones could roost safely, then added nesting boxes a few months later when they were getting close to lay. I always let my chickens roam, never leave in coops, way to hot for them. The older hens took over nesting boxes. :/ This is the first one I did and I swore I would add more ventilation to the next along with super easy clean-up or poop boards. I added and subtracted for a few months till I got it right. Always build bigger and give them more room than you think they will need because happy chickens are the best. Make you nest boxes a little low so you don't have to make their roosts too high. I also staple feed bags on for storm protection, then remove when weather clears. I also use shredded paper and grass I cut for boxes because I change it every month and we get plenty everywhere over here. I just extended their run cuz my honey wuz tired of the poop from free ranging. I also added shade cloth over the whole thing. I live westside. At the moment I have 8 layers and 3 chicks. Subject to adjustment always. I get about 6 eggs average per day. I also used chicken wire, tree branches, untreated 2x4's from home Depot to save money. Please post what you got going on. Building the coop was the fun part for me. Also note that there is formulas for roosting and coop size and run size per bird. You totally got this!!!

 

[Stephh0701]

Those are great accommodations! I'd love to free range our birds but it'll only work of they stay in our yard to be honest. We live in a tiny community that's pretty country but still not huge space for free ranging (on Oahu unfortunately) . I do really want the chicks to grow together as pecking order is already proving nerve racking for me. Our chicks already jump all over each other and harass one another. While they dont seem to mind and no ones actually harming the other I'm still like an over zealous mama. I hit up craigslist last week with not much luck but will definitely try again and maybe something will pop up.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Those are great accommodations! I'd love to free range our birds but it'll only work of they stay in our yard to be honest. We live in a tiny community that's pretty country but still not huge space for free ranging (on Oahu unfortunately) . I do really want the chicks to grow together as pecking order is already proving nerve racking for me. Our chicks already jump all over each other and harass one another. While they dont seem to mind and no ones actually harming the other I'm still like an over zealous mama. I hit up craigslist last week with not much luck but will definitely try again and maybe something will pop up.

Do you live Kaneohe? I have a daughter-in-law in Kaneohe, mom-in-law in Foster Village and a sister-in-law in Mililani. Oahu got busy last couple 3-4 decades. I kinda dread going over there now. Glad you live in the country. My chickens stay in a basic area and I scare them back with hose water when they go too far. I think they are smart cuz all i gotta do sometimes is turn the handle to the hose and they all go running to where they are supposed to be. he he! The only thing I would worry about is hunting dogs... or dogs in general. You will probably have to do a little trial and error. The main thing to be on the look out for is parasites. Being it is warm and wet here there are lots of parasites the chickens can pick up from the ground. The chick or chickens will slow down, then puff up and go to be alone and then bam! The thing is dead... When you can, go to the feed store and tell them you need something for the parasite. Best to go to someone who deals with roostas cuz they know da kine. Plus will cost you less. Good to have that on hand cuz when the chicks or chickens get sick, you don't want to be looking for it.
So how many chickens total?