02-16-2008, 10:03 AM
Maud,
My experience with the jungle fowl is that they will not lay eggs when kept in a coop. Even if you raise them from hatchlings. They are terrific buggers, but a real pain to keep off the lanai's, and even out of the house! They defecate everywhere! They lay their eggs all around in the jungle, so if you aren't into foraging in the jungle... The plus side for them are of course how beautiful they are. Also, they're extremely hardy, good at defending themselves from local predators. They'll roost high up in the trees at night and come when you call them. I had a flock of them here for about 9 months - found plenty of babies, yet never got one egg to eat from them. But, between the poo and the roosters crowing ALL the time, and the lack of eggs for the trouble, they just had to go. Also of note - they don't make a good meal either!
Think about just sticking to domestics. If you start them off in a coop, you can turn them out and they will return to the coop at night to roost. They'll have shelter and hopefully will lay most of their eggs in the coop - as long as you provide nest boxes.
Mongoose can be a big problem here - they go after eggs, babies and even the adults. Only way around that is to keep them cooped up, use small holed fencing for a run - include the fencing on the top and on the bottom (you can bury it in the ground).
Good luck! With the price of eggs on this island, having a small flock of chickens is certainly worth the effort!
Aloha,
Punacat
My experience with the jungle fowl is that they will not lay eggs when kept in a coop. Even if you raise them from hatchlings. They are terrific buggers, but a real pain to keep off the lanai's, and even out of the house! They defecate everywhere! They lay their eggs all around in the jungle, so if you aren't into foraging in the jungle... The plus side for them are of course how beautiful they are. Also, they're extremely hardy, good at defending themselves from local predators. They'll roost high up in the trees at night and come when you call them. I had a flock of them here for about 9 months - found plenty of babies, yet never got one egg to eat from them. But, between the poo and the roosters crowing ALL the time, and the lack of eggs for the trouble, they just had to go. Also of note - they don't make a good meal either!
Think about just sticking to domestics. If you start them off in a coop, you can turn them out and they will return to the coop at night to roost. They'll have shelter and hopefully will lay most of their eggs in the coop - as long as you provide nest boxes.
Mongoose can be a big problem here - they go after eggs, babies and even the adults. Only way around that is to keep them cooped up, use small holed fencing for a run - include the fencing on the top and on the bottom (you can bury it in the ground).
Good luck! With the price of eggs on this island, having a small flock of chickens is certainly worth the effort!
Aloha,
Punacat