Nature preserve Jungle fowl..we have them in Ohio!

[Kaneke]

don't have any info on wild chickens on Oahu; only a comment (being careful here), that there are chickens looking very much like jungle fowl on Kauai, Molokai, and Maui because that (can't mention it ) activity is far more prevalent on these three islands; Oahu is more heavily policed, though I wouldn't be surprised to see similar chickens on the leeward side of Oahu

however, you were talking about chickens on the windward side ... somewhat different culturally ... more tourists and probably more "police presence"

can't say anything about Big Island because I have yet to visit ! however oldest son lives on Kauai ... and those chickens are nearly EVERYwhere there, menace to traffic ... but gorgeous, multicolored, and hens are very good mamas

legend has it that hurricanes Iwa and Iniki destroyed many pens wherein roosters were raised for ( ____; my lips are sealed); the fowl went feral; many were descended from jungle fowl for obvious reasons (and it takes hens to make new roosters -- LOL )

however, there were chickens all over Kauai long before the hurricanes hit -- ask the golf course groomers !

here on Maui there have been any number of people who raised multiple roosters, then were "raided" and their flocks let loose -- the humane society would just as soon not bother with chickens of whatever breed

our neighbor over the back fence, six or seven years ago, had quite a number of roosters in their little triangular "houses"; we don't know if he took the roos with him when he moved, but the one who showed up here a few months ago looks a great deal like the ones who used to inhabit the property to the rear ...

the neighborhood is MUCH quieter now; I hear a couple of roos down the block in the morning, and our boy usually lets us know when the sun is imminent ...

Candy

 

[Kaneke]

and just to make it crystal clear -- we would love to have these as PET chickens, already after several weeks they all come running when I yell CHICK CHICK CHICK as I throw down feed for them ... have been able to touch only the most recent banty mama ... then only for the barest instant ... we hope to lure the smallest chicks into a coop so we can start taming them

the roo has been "making up" to the two girls inside the coop; the silver-gray EE and the white leghorn (at least I think that's what she is) ... I'm getting a nice medium-brown egg almost every morning, am sure it's the EE but she's been laying earlier in the morning than I get up ... so I haven't caught her at it

(doubt that her eggs are fertile now, if they've ever been; she's been here over a month, cooped up)

everyone else free ranges but I was keeping these girls cooped until I was sure the rest would accept them ... actually one of the teenage cockerels has been doing the belly-bump thing against the coop wire (hardware cloth) and doing the evil-eye stare with the EE

(these bratty teenagers have gotta go, though they would be gorgeous as adults, with golden cloaks, metallic black-to-green backs (one has some golden feathers poking through all over) ... hard to tell though, as they are in the process of developing their mature coloring

the pale cream-to-tan eggs have been coming from the black hen (her feathers gleam green and purple in the sun), am getting one almost every day from her ... am sure those are fertile

the blond hen in the "flock" picture is the one who's gone broody, sitting on nineteen (!!) ... I'd swear she's DIED, she is so still ... have not seen her off the nest since she went broody ... though I scattered some feed and put a pan of water down, right in front of her ... she's somewhere between Day 10 and Day 12; with luck we'll see fluffy butts before we leave for a trip to the mainland in ten days

Candy

 

[krturpie]

mahalo nui loa Candy! from what i heard, there aren't any wild chickens left on the big island b/c of mongoose.

yeah, it's much more built up and regulated on the windward side of Oahu, so it's not surprising that i only saw wild chickens in the park. i did travel to the leeward side and saw plenty of farms, but didn't see any chickens, domestic or wild. but, then i didn't get out much there. it was Feb and the weather was a bit intense. but i hope to get back soon... really miss being there. pomaika'i with those rascally roos. aloha ahiahi and mahalo.

 

[Kaneke]

plenty of mongooses on Maui --- this time of year they seem to be courting, saw a pair making loveydovey noises at each other when we went to Hana with friends ... have seen more streaking across the road (from cane field to cane field) than I have in awhile ...

it's maybe going to be spring sometime (listen to the torrential rain falling outside, and there's a flash flood warning out for Kauai ... )

our bunch of hens have picked pretty "defendable" places for nests ... one is under our main electrical distribution box in the corner between the carport and house ... one was under a big pile of Norfolk Island pine branches which came down over the winter ... another is currently laying eggs under a pile of thorny branches from the bitter-orange and tangerine trees ... one was under the solar panels as well as under a lobster trap which was stowed away there ...

since we're in the middle of suburbia, the mongooses don't seem to come around; they stay out in the cane fields; the grassy lot next door is still surrounded by other houses, not to mention the elementary school and the community-center ball fields ... soccer, baseball, football, basketball, tennis, etc
(suburbia Maui style, the lots are half-acres, usually two houses per lot)

our tenant tells me she has to "thin out" the chickens every few months, since more of the feral chickens seem to be attracted by our flock here; they roost in the mango and macadamia and lychee trees (they've moved out to thinner branches since the little feral cat also sleeps in the trees); one of the macadamia trees is also "home" for a bunch of parakeets (the wild gray ones, not the colorful pet ones)

C

 

[chicknmania]

Thanks for all the info. I hope Dazzle is a hybrid with some throwback genes. Even though he is darker, he does have the slate and pink mottled feet and legs that I noticed on the red jungle fowl when I researched them on google, and the white feathers at the base of his tail. Also, Raven (his sister) lays peachy colored to tan eggs, she is black as you can see and her feathers also gleam purple and green in the sun. If they are hybrids, they have a very strong genetic connection to something to be able to look so much alike and also produce offspring with the same characteristics. I was always fascinated by genetics in school, and still am...would love to know if anyone sees any other breed characteristics linking them to something? My son said he has a friend who has red jungle fowl he bought from somewhere: I am interested to see one in person, if I get a chance.

 

[chicknmania]

Hmmm, just making notations to myself, basically,but if you look at Rusty in the upper left picture of the collage, you can see that he did have gold and bronze all down his back, and less black...that's why we called him Rusty. It's too bad I don't have a better pic of him to compare. Anyway, thanks again for the addl pics and stuff.

 

[chicknmania]

OH, and lastly

his comb was damaged by frostbite a few years ago; he actually did have a comb like Kaneke's roo OK, I'll quit staring at these beautiful roosters now, and get on with work.....