- Jan 18, 2014
- 28
- 34
- 102
I think I joined several years ago, but life is so busy, haven't been back for a few years. I manage a big ranch and don't even remember what day it is sometimes (thought today was friday, but yea! an extra day to get stuff done!)
I live on the Big Island of Hawaii where their is a very large population of feral and abandoned chickens. There are a mix of the true Jungle Fowl (small, lean, wild and mean), escaped or
abandoned, fighting fowl, and domestic chickens, escaped or abandoned.
You cannot 'give' away roosters, so they are let go at Lowe's, Home depot, safeway, costco (you get the picture). We recently got a feed store on the leeward side of the island, so now many purebred chickens are being imported.
My flock consists of Araucanas, Ameraucanas, a silver laced wyandotte, Maran, and several purebred mixes. I keep hens only and have raised a couple 'jungle fowl' but the eggs were small and they always turned vicious when any new hen was introduced, cornering her, holding her down and ripping chunks of flesh out, so back to the jungle and done with that.
I have about a dozen hens and they are all named and most are very tame. Just a few nights ago I was stuck in the hen house for nearly an hour because two 'new' girls were afraid of the older hens and decided I was a safe and warm roost to spend the night! How do you dump them off and say
"good luck girls, hope you are still in one piece in the am!" when you have two hens all cuddled up and sound asleep on your lap! I put in a separate roost for them and kept checking them till I was sure all was o.k.
When people leave the island, then tend to just dump whatever animals they can't find homes for when they run out of time, so the island is overrun with feral cats and chickens. My friend and I (mostly her) rescued over 20 abandoned hens up in the jungle at 4000 ft. this last week. All purebreds, young, and looked fat and well cared for...they were just starving. I took some, she took some and we are finding homes for the rest.
It's always summer so we don't have to worry too much about heat. It can get cold, rainy and windy at times, but they have a safe dry coop to sleep and lay eggs in. I dump my grass clippings in and give them two fresh papaya every day from the trees they 'started' by pooping out seeds all over the property. Several different varieties! The papaya seeds keep them free of worms and are high in antioxidants (good for people too!) Today they are enjoying a half of watermelon I let get too ripe.
I live on the Big Island of Hawaii where their is a very large population of feral and abandoned chickens. There are a mix of the true Jungle Fowl (small, lean, wild and mean), escaped or
abandoned, fighting fowl, and domestic chickens, escaped or abandoned.
You cannot 'give' away roosters, so they are let go at Lowe's, Home depot, safeway, costco (you get the picture). We recently got a feed store on the leeward side of the island, so now many purebred chickens are being imported.
My flock consists of Araucanas, Ameraucanas, a silver laced wyandotte, Maran, and several purebred mixes. I keep hens only and have raised a couple 'jungle fowl' but the eggs were small and they always turned vicious when any new hen was introduced, cornering her, holding her down and ripping chunks of flesh out, so back to the jungle and done with that.
I have about a dozen hens and they are all named and most are very tame. Just a few nights ago I was stuck in the hen house for nearly an hour because two 'new' girls were afraid of the older hens and decided I was a safe and warm roost to spend the night! How do you dump them off and say
"good luck girls, hope you are still in one piece in the am!" when you have two hens all cuddled up and sound asleep on your lap! I put in a separate roost for them and kept checking them till I was sure all was o.k.
When people leave the island, then tend to just dump whatever animals they can't find homes for when they run out of time, so the island is overrun with feral cats and chickens. My friend and I (mostly her) rescued over 20 abandoned hens up in the jungle at 4000 ft. this last week. All purebreds, young, and looked fat and well cared for...they were just starving. I took some, she took some and we are finding homes for the rest.
It's always summer so we don't have to worry too much about heat. It can get cold, rainy and windy at times, but they have a safe dry coop to sleep and lay eggs in. I dump my grass clippings in and give them two fresh papaya every day from the trees they 'started' by pooping out seeds all over the property. Several different varieties! The papaya seeds keep them free of worms and are high in antioxidants (good for people too!) Today they are enjoying a half of watermelon I let get too ripe.
I come from the future....)
