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I had read that in PR the coquis all have parasites that stunt their growth but that the parasites do not exist in Hawaii. I had also read that they are larger in Hawaii because they live longer here due to not having natural predators. There is the third possibility that the coquis in Hawaii are just getting bigger for the same reason some tortoise species get huge in the Galapagos but nowhere else- evolution happens. I have lived on our property in Orchidland for less than 3 years and the coquis I see now are huge, and they seem to be changing to a more beige color. It does not stop our chickens from finding and fighting over them.
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Coquis chirping away on Kaloli Pt. They are also chirping in the day time nowadays. It makes it more difficult to hear the ocean. They are growing larger bc they're living longer with no real predators. I have seen an anole eat a coqui. The fire ant exterminator said that in the more infested areas, fire ants are killing birds, lizards etc. Too bad the coquis and fire ants don't wipe each other out.
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Terracore:
Did you have to train your chickens to go after them? Seems like if they were good eating the chickens would figure that out for themselves, but I read in the past about people trying to encourage or train the chickens. Same with chickens and slugs.
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MarkP - Our hens LOVE LOVE LOVE coquis and peeds and worms and even mosquitoes.No need train them,they are smart and love the taste of coqui.
I think personally they roost and hear them at night and like a becon,they home in on them in the day and soon no more coqui.We have a 800 foot perimeter around the main house thanks to the hens free roaming.
Maybe others train their hens,we do not.
We are currently getting 10 to 12 dozen eggs a day from 60 hens.
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In case your 60 hens poop where you don't want them to, I used a method that worked. Tie old vcr tape about 2" above ground level, the wind moves it & scares them away. I did this around my carport & porch & the chickens wouldn't cross it. Just remember to step over it, it's a tripper. Even driving the truck over it was OK.
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkP
Terracore:
Did you have to train your chickens to go after them? Seems like if they were good eating the chickens would figure that out for themselves, but I read in the past about people trying to encourage or train the chickens. Same with chickens and slugs.
Chickens will go after anything that moves, so I think they train themselves to be curious in coquis. Since the chickens are active during the day, and coquis at night, my uneducated guess is that the coquis just look like food, moving or not. Chickens have a different kind of vision than humans do and can see coquis and other food where we just see leaf litter etc. Chickens can eat just about anything but they spend the majority of their lives foraging for protein, usually in the form of bugs and nasty critters.
Chickens quickly learn from each other. So long as one chicken in the flock thinks coqui are food, all of them will.
When I'm out working in the yard a few chickens always follow me around. I broke apart and removed a small rock wall and no sooner did I lift a rock up off the ground there was a chicken plucking up the slug, worm, centipede, or whatever else was underneath. As soon as one picked it up she would run away with it, followed by other chickens trying to steal it from her.
