Aloha, I Recently Received Some One (1) Day Old Chicks From California, And Sadly Because I Live On An Outer Island, Many Of Them Did Not Survive. I Was Left With A Cream Legbar Breeding Pair, Two Birds. Not Fully Knowing The Full Dangers Of Mongoose In Hawaii, My Outdoor Chicken Run Was Only Equipped With Regular Chicken Wire. The Chickens Were Approximaely 7 Weeks Old, When A Mongoose (most likely) Had Pulled The Head Of My Hen, Through The Chickden Wire -- When I Returned Home I Found The Body Still Inside, Yet The Head Had Been Pulled Through. I Have Since Re-Designed My Chicken Run / Coop (10 ft. x 20 ft.) With 1/4" Hardward Cloth. The Rooster Was Of Course Terrified And Did Not Want To Come Out For A Few Days. That Rooster Was Not Vaccinated, And I Was Not Using Medicated Feed. The Rooster Was Healthy, And Then One Day It Developed What Appears To Be Mareks Disease -- Heavy Breathing, Not Eating. At Present, I Have 18 Fertilized Eggs (Rhode Island Red) In The Incubator (Day 5). This Is All New To Me, And I Am Learning A Lot. Tragically, Because I Live On An Outer Island, Many Of The 36 Were Cracked. I Did Have A Crack On One Egg, And Hoped That Placing Some Kind Of Tape On The Crack It Would Suffice. At Day 5 I Noticed That The Egg Had Turned Black / Dark. Thanks To Others Here That Help Identify That Egg As Being Compromised With Bacteria. I Broke It Open And There Was No Development Whatsoever. I Have Another 25 Live Eggs Being Shipped Tomorrow (5 August, 2024), And Hope That They Do Not Come Broken. I Have Also Ordered Some Black Zombie One (1) Day Old Chickens, And Await To See How That Works.
I Placed A Trap, Specifically For Small Animals Like Rats / Mongoose -- And I Was Able To Catch The Mongoose And Deal With That Issue. I Was Using Turkey Gizzard (frozen turkey) As A Bait, And That Really Caught The Mongoose Quick. Using Corned Beef Did Not Attract The Mongoose. There Is Also A Feral Cat That Frequents The Location -- So I Am Not Completely 100% That The Caught Mongoose Did It -- However From What Happened To Head, I Really Do Think It Was The Mongoose. I Appreciate People Here -- Knowing That Chicken Raising Is Not As Easy As It Appears. I Will Use Medicated Feed This Time, While The Vaccination Process Is Not Available To Me. I Actually Prefer No Injections. Let's See How The Medicated Feed Works. I Did Make A Very Diligent Search Online For 'NON SOY' Feed, And Found Some, However None Are Medicated.
So I Eagerly Wait To Use Only The 'NON SOY' -- And See How Things Go. Incubation Of Eggs Is Very Exciting For Me, And I Am So Very Happy To Be Connected With A Loving And Extremely Wonderful Group Of Chicken People, Here, And Other Places. Thank You All (Website Administrators) For Having The Unique And Great Place To Share Information . . .
I Placed A Trap, Specifically For Small Animals Like Rats / Mongoose -- And I Was Able To Catch The Mongoose And Deal With That Issue. I Was Using Turkey Gizzard (frozen turkey) As A Bait, And That Really Caught The Mongoose Quick. Using Corned Beef Did Not Attract The Mongoose. There Is Also A Feral Cat That Frequents The Location -- So I Am Not Completely 100% That The Caught Mongoose Did It -- However From What Happened To Head, I Really Do Think It Was The Mongoose. I Appreciate People Here -- Knowing That Chicken Raising Is Not As Easy As It Appears. I Will Use Medicated Feed This Time, While The Vaccination Process Is Not Available To Me. I Actually Prefer No Injections. Let's See How The Medicated Feed Works. I Did Make A Very Diligent Search Online For 'NON SOY' Feed, And Found Some, However None Are Medicated.
So I Eagerly Wait To Use Only The 'NON SOY' -- And See How Things Go. Incubation Of Eggs Is Very Exciting For Me, And I Am So Very Happy To Be Connected With A Loving And Extremely Wonderful Group Of Chicken People, Here, And Other Places. Thank You All (Website Administrators) For Having The Unique And Great Place To Share Information . . .
Glad you joined.
hopefully things go more smooth for you soon. 
