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We have a fair flock of free range chickens and roosters... mostly jungle game birds though one Aracauna. If anyone has any hens they want to trade for a rooster, I am interested in diversifying the flock. There are immature babies coming up so many to choose from.
Aloha, Pam
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Hi Pam,
I always admire your farm stories. I'm working on getting my own little heaven together too. Do you have any ducks? I had hoped to free range my chickens during the day and coop them at night, But all week long as I've been finishing up the coop, there have been 2 hawks circling our property and flying pretty low. They seem to hang out right in the tree line and have been appearing several times throughout the day. We have kittens so I'm not sure if that's what they're interested in, but I'm pretty sure our chickens wouldn't last long. Do you have problems with hawks getting to your flock? I think I'm going to make them a long covered run instead.
Aloha, Angela
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Aloha Nalu,
It isn't the i'o (hawks) to worry about, it's them pesky mongoose. Those critters will come in and kill all your chickens in moments flat if they can. Once the chickens are full grown, the mongoose don't seem to bother them, but half to three quarter grown chickens are still vulnerable. Our chicken coop is raised about three feet off the ground on metal legs so the mongoose can't get inside. Mongooses will also steal and eat the eggs, too. I didn't think they could get their mouths around an egg, but they certainly can and an egg makes really good bait for a mongoose trap.
So far we've had a dozen half grown chickens killed by mongooses when the chickens were kept in a cage on the ground and the mongoose found a way in. We've had adult chickens killed by dogs and one hen has died from old age, but that's fairly rare since once they stop laying they generally become soup. Other than that, though, the hens have been healthy.
We don't have any roosters, though, since chicken soup cures crowing.
A hui hou,
Catz
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Kurt Wilson
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Aloha,
This really interests me. I planned on having a few free range chickens in Fern Forest when I move there.
Are mongooses at all the altitudes? I have seen them when I was there in Kapoho.
I planned on having a chicken coop for about half a dozen chickens. I saw an article in MotherEarth News about one using a dog house with an area surrounded by chicken wire that you can drag to different locations and the chickens would be safe, never leaving the coop, but I forgot about mongooses.
I know that squirrels here in NC chew right through aluminum to get where they want to go, so I suppose a mongoose looking into a coop with baby chicks and eggs would be tempting enough for him to start chewing the chicken wire. How cunning are they?
Jean Hopper
Jean Hopper
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We're in Mountain View which is near Fern Forest and we definately have mongoose up here. Every couple of days or so I see one scurry across the dirt road leading to the back of our lot. I saw that article too in Mother Earth News, and did some research and had my hubbie build me a portable chicken tractor I saw online. The problem is, my husband decided it looked too small so made it a foot and a half wider over all, it's now 6 feet high, 4 feet wide 8 feet long and completely too heavy to move.  We put wheels on the back as diagrammed and they both popped due to the heavy weight, so it is now going to be a stationary coop. It's probably just as well, with the movable one, we couldn't put a bottom in and that meant things could dig under it. It's completely enclosed with chicken wire and for the floor I dug down about a foot, laid chicken wire, then replaced the dirt over the chicken wire. I had planned on making a large run for them when they're big, but I'm a little worried about that now since mongoose probably could weasal under the wire, I had intended to hang deer netting over the top of the run, but not underneath. Catz, if I waited until they were completely full grown do you think I would have to worry as much about the mongoose? Also, do the hawks here not hunt for chickens, or do they prey on smaller animals like mice? They are certainly beautiful to watch. Aloha, Angela
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quote:
Also, do the hawks here not hunt for chickens, or do they prey on smaller animals like mice?
'Io, Hawaiian Hawk, is generally a forest raptor, but I have seen them perched on a snag in a grassland. Their food resource typically includes rodents, birds and insects. They would probably be more likely to go for a chick than an adult. However, their numbers are fairly low (prob. less than 1500 on the entire Island) and predator dangers are more likely to come from something other than a bird species. There are also Pueo (Short-eared Owl) and Barn Owl. These are more likely to go for rodents and insects, the former at dusk, the latter in the evening. Chickens tend to go to roost before the owls get active.
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We are lucky up here that we have so many native birds. We have 7 1/2 acres and behind us there are three 50 acre parcels of untouched forest. We almost forget that the hawks and owls are few in numbers since they seem to thrive up here. One of these days I'm going to get a birder book, to see if I can identify the different ones. Thanks for all your replies.
Aloha, Angela
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Other than the neighbor's dog, I don't think there are that many digging predators that will get into a chicken coop around here. Mongoose don't chew through chicken wire that I know of. We have two border collies and they generally chase off the mongoose and keep stray dogs and cats out of the back yard so our hens are pretty protected. They do get "herded" a lot, though, since the border collies believe things should stay in groups. The hens don't seem to mind too much.
The hawks pretty much seem to eat small rodents and other smaller birds, a full grown chicken is generally bigger than most of the hawks. Unless you have banties, then you will need the extensive protection for them. Actually, I've seen the chickens eat small mice, so maybe the things are more tasty than we think they might be? 
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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Aloha punatics,
I would like to share this website that I found
http://henspa.com
The HENSPA chicken coop seems like the one I am looking for, except these are very pricey, so I think maybe it could be a buildable one. The photos show pretty good detail of the structure.
I love the way the eggs are collected and it is also moveable for free range chickens.
What do ya'll think? That is a NC YAWL.
Jean Hopper
Edited by - Jean H on 07/08/2007 10:26:31
Jean Hopper
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Hi Jean,
It looked like a neat design, but I had read in a lot of different books that chickens don't like the wire floors. It's hard on their feet. I buried mine about a foot down. I suppose you could put pine shavings down and that would help. It's a neat design. I also read chickens like to sun themselves, so if there was a way to let more sun in, but still keep protected from the elements. Aloha, Angela
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