Big Island Chickens

Has it been THAT long?

Lots have happened in the months that have gone by

Lightning has healed, grown and fathered his first two broods of chicks. 12 chicks total of straight run, meaning we are still a bit unsure which one is what yet, but they are getting bigger everyday and we have introduced them into the main flock already.

The Marans.We purchased 6 Cuckoo Marans at the Pahoa feed store. We were in the area and dropped in to see what was up and there was their chick delivery- peeping away. We knew this breed laid a deeper shade of chocolate brown egg and bought the lot of 6. Turns out this breed isn't one of the "hardy" listed breeds and we lost one within a week. They are now feathering out nicely, and we were assured that all our chicks were hens.

We have also gotten turkeys! Sadly, not the breed we wanted, but then the state of Hawaii is a bit militant as to what they will and won't allow on the island. We wanted the Oscillated breed, but since we can't import ANY turkey at this time, we found a breeder that had some Heritage Breed (turkey breeder code for, "I'm going to charge you more and you can't do anything about it") Bourbon Reds and Royal Palms. These are one month old, straight run, purchased for 25$ each. We bought almost all they had- RP= 7 chicks (all but 2) and Reds=3 (all they had) for 10 turkey poults total. So far we have identified three of the Royals as Toms, and one of the Reds as a possible as the Reds were a week behind their Royal brethren in hatching. These are planned as brood stock, with all extra Toms going into the freezer. I want to keep only one male of each breed to avoid to much fuss. I am still looking for the standard Bronze. I know they are already on the Island, so it's just a matter of tracking them down.

These birds are already as tall as the chicken hens, though you can still see their kindergarten mental states. Young though they are, the Toms are already fluffing and practicing their strutting. I have not been fast enough with the the camera yet. They don't hold it long. They also can FLY. Not the chicken flapping-getting-a-foot-off the-ground of the chickens, it's full fledged, Wilbur and Orville Wright flying. Word is, they can get airborne as young as two weeks. It's a good thing our poultry pen is covered in aviary netting.

We have integrated them into the flock as well, only the Marans being segregated. The Marans are n the coop Brooder right now and will be moved to the Chicken Condo today or tomorrow, since the turkeys and the first brood have gotten mixed into general population.

Next post: more photos and news on the start of a bigger set of pens!

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