10-01-2010, 08:56 AM
Mongoose will generally leave chickens alone once they are about half-grown. As Rob pointed out, that's a couple months old. They are attracted to the peeping sounds of younger birds.
Mongoose are daytime hunters; rats hunt at night and will go after young chicks & eggs. Don't know how old chicks would need to be to be 'safe' from rats. Cats hunt both day & night so that could be a consideration, though they won't usually go after a full-grown chicken. Our flock is enclosed in a large yard with a wire skirting to keep mongoose from digging their way in. Rats can climb though so if you have young birds you need to provide more protection.
Feral & wild chickens roost high in trees. Once the chicks have their real feathers they don't need an outside source of nighttime heat in this climate. If you are at a higher elevation, they may need for longer. (We are at 400')
Tada - You don't need to cook chicken feed! Just give them cracked grain & fresh greens and they'll be fine. Or get some chick starter from any of the feed stores.
A great resource for chicken info is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hawaiichickens/
aloha, Liz
"The best things in life aren't things."
Mongoose are daytime hunters; rats hunt at night and will go after young chicks & eggs. Don't know how old chicks would need to be to be 'safe' from rats. Cats hunt both day & night so that could be a consideration, though they won't usually go after a full-grown chicken. Our flock is enclosed in a large yard with a wire skirting to keep mongoose from digging their way in. Rats can climb though so if you have young birds you need to provide more protection.
Feral & wild chickens roost high in trees. Once the chicks have their real feathers they don't need an outside source of nighttime heat in this climate. If you are at a higher elevation, they may need for longer. (We are at 400')
Tada - You don't need to cook chicken feed! Just give them cracked grain & fresh greens and they'll be fine. Or get some chick starter from any of the feed stores.
A great resource for chicken info is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hawaiichickens/
aloha, Liz
"The best things in life aren't things."