Taming Kauai’s Roosters: Hawaii Enacts Law Controlling Feral Chickens

[DeniseM]

Taming Kauai's Roosters: Hawaii Enacts Law Controlling Feral Chickens

Kauai's picturesque Poipu Beach Park is one of the places overrun by Hawaii feral chickens. Hurricanes released these birds into the wild, with no natural predators. These colorful feathered invaders have become a charming sight to some and a significant nuisance to others, prompting this newly...

beatofhawaii.com

 

[slip]

Kim and I were just talking about this a couple days ago. Kim always gets up earlier than me and I mentioned I would Occasionally hear the chickens at about 5am. She said it's more like 4am.

We're used to them now and it's not a huge problem here but they are all over the island. No one really talks about them here. We'll see if we get any of Maui county's money for this.

 

[easyrider]

As long as the feral chickens are protected by law no one is going to kill them on public lands. Interesting is if the feral chicken is on your land you can kill it.

Bill

 

[dioxide45]

Seems odd to protect an invasive species.

 

[geist1223]

How to eat a Kauai Feral Chicken. Kill and clean like normal. Spread the pieces on a 2 X 8. Bake in oven at 450°F for about 4 hours. Take out. Scrap Chicken off and eat Board.

 

[davidvel]

As long as the feral chickens are protected by law no one is going to kill them on public lands. Interesting is if the feral chicken is on your land you can kill it.

Bill

Right but cock fighting is only a misdemeanor in HI. What is the penalty for catching and killing a chicken for food?

 

[easyrider]

Right but cock fighting is only a misdemeanor in HI. What is the penalty for catching and killing a chicken for food?

If the chicken is on your property then the chicken is your property. If it's on public lands the chicken is sacred like cows in India. You could kill a feral chicken on private property with the owners permission without a hunting license so under this condition it's legal and probably usual for some most likely.

Eating them was popular until the chicken protection laws. So was eating turtles. I think turtles were protected first for good reasons then some idiot thought it would be a good idea to protect chickens too, which sounds about right, but I'm only guessing. If they let the people eat the chickens there wouldn't be a problem.

Bill

 

[WaikikiFirst]

was Delta using them for its meals?
btw, seems every time I read about a new "law" in HI, there is no detail that any actual details / steps / implementation exist. It is always about intent & plans & allocating some funds to whatever. If the state wants to teach people to not feed them, who needs a "law"? If HI wants to institute fines for feeding them, then a law makes sense. No word of fines here.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

until the chicken protection laws

does this repeal those. That seems like the obvious way to go ... not kindler/gentler, but obvious.

 

[ScoopKona]

btw, seems every time I read about a new "law" in HI, there is no detail that any actual details / steps / implementation exist. It is always about intent & plans & allocating some funds to whatever. If the state wants to teach people to not feed them, who needs a "law"? If HI wants to institute fines for feeding them, then a law makes sense. No word of fines here.

Getting people to stop feeding invasive nuisance exotics -- like mongoose, cat and chicken -- is like herding feral cats. There is always that one dingbat crazy cat person who will spend the social security check on Friskies and feed all the cats and mongoose. And short of imprisoning that person, there is no amount of logic or reason that is going to stop this behavior.

Tourists also feed ferals because they're "cute." (I've never seen a mongoose that was anything resembling "cute." They're nasty things. I'd rather have rats.) Then again, it's impossible to get tourists to stop harassing dolphin, turtles and seals. And asking them to wear sunscreen which won't destroy coral sends them into a pearl-clutching conniption. "But it's my FAVORITE brand!"

I fully expect this law to be challenged by either the crazy cat person; an evangelical; or a business that sells rooster souvenirs. It's not a Hawaii law unless someone ties it up in court for a few years.

 

[easyrider]

does this repeal those. That seems like the obvious way to go ... not kindler/gentler, but obvious.

No, it doesn't repeal existing laws but it does stigmatize the eating of wild chickens which is part of the gentrification process, imo.

Bill

 

[Passepartout]

They must have some smart chickens that can read laws that they are illegal, and so will leave or at least not breed. Who knew?

 

[NTP66]

So Kauai and Maui both have an abundance of chickens? It’s funny, because we have seen dozens of feral cats on Big Island. One of them followed us into our room last night, so of course my wife gave it a bowl of water.

 

[clifffaith]

So Kauai and Maui both have an abundance of chickens? It’s funny, because we have seen dozens of feral cats on Big Island. One of them followed us into our room last night, so of course my wife gave it a bowl of water.

One of the highlights of our stay at Worldmark on the Big Island was the not-so-feral kitty on our lanai every afternoon when we returned from sightseeing.

 

[dioxide45]

So Kauai and Maui both have an abundance of chickens? It’s funny, because we have seen dozens of feral cats on Big Island. One of them followed us into our room last night, so of course my wife gave it a bowl of water.

That just sounds like a stray vs. a feral cat.

 

[NTP66]

Probably. At any rate, I just gave the purrhead a can of cat food which he is enjoying.

 

[NTP66]

I was inspired by Maui to design and 3D print this. Can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.