07-02-2007, 03:49 PM
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
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
Kurt Wilson