Jul 7th, 2008
Why Does Kauai Have So Many Wild Chickens?
If you’ve been to Kauai then you’ve probably noticed all the feral chickens. They’re hard to miss. I’d imagine just about everyone who has been to Kauai has vacation photos of the waterfalls, the beaches, beautiful Waimea Canyon, and then there’s the obligatory photo of the chickens. (Note that the photo above is from our own vacation photo collection.)
So what does Kauai have so many wild chickens? Most people suggest that the feral chicken population can be traced back to when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai in 1992. It’s been reported that the devastating hurricane destroyed a number of chicken farms. Wikipedia also suggests another possible theory:
Others say that sugarcane plantation laborers in the late 1800s and early 1900s brought and raised chickens (for eating and cockfighting) and many got loose over the years and multiplied.
The reason could be a combination of the two. Have you heard any theories on the Kauai chicken population? Do you have a vacation photo with a free range Kauai chicken? If you have the photo hosted online, please share the link in the comments.
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16 Responses to “Why Does Kauai Have So Many Wild Chickens?”
I loved the chickens when we were in Kauai last year! I heard the hurricane story and that there are no wild predators for the chickens either, so they only die naturally or by humans (i.e. getting hit by cars) - so that allows them to mulitply even faster!
They were so funny!
We have some pictures in our Kauai Wildlife gallery on our site. Some of the healthiest chickens I’ve ever seen over there
Kauai Wild Life
Lots of chickens in Kaimuki too.
Aloha,
Keahi
Hi Sheila,
Kauai isn’t the only place that is loaded with chickens. Laie, the town I live in, used to have a chicken farm and I think a bunch of them planned a ‘great escape’ about 20 years ago and we have full of them ever since then. My neighbor has set up a chicken trap but that doesn’t seem to put a dent in their population.
The main problem I face is when I get a call from an important client and then all of sudden you hear a rooster making all kinds of noise in the background. The clients may have originally thought I worked in some big air-conditioned skyscraper cubicle only to hear roosters blow my cover. Then I am forced to admit that I an earth muffin living in the country with a bunch of chickens.
I do raise rabbits in the backyard but they are very quiet.
Aloha,
Chris
Sheila, I have a friend on Kauai that tells me the chickens thrive there because there is no mongoose to eat them. I don’t know if that’s true because I was just on the Big Island and I saw lots of mongoose AND lots of chickens:-) I have also heard the Hurricane Iniki theory, but I remember lots of chickens on Kauai even in the early eighties. Maybe a combination of both? I lived on Maui for many years; we had lots of mongoose and no chickens, so it seems to vary on each island. I was in Laie last year and noticed all the chickens there and the noise as well!
I was going to say that this seems like it would have an obvious answer, as anyone visiting or living there before Iniki would know if there were chicken present or not, and I think Jan confirmed that.
But I’m sure Iniki did increase the population in the wild. I know when I was on the Big Island this year I saw a bunch of ‘backyard’ chicken farms, probably rooster breeding I assume. I’m sure not for fighting! LOL. I didn’t see any on Kauai, but I bet they’re out there…
This looks like a normal chicken, but it was in Kauai - by Opaeka’a Falls…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56612889@N00/314375665/
I’m with Jan.
I think the quantity of chickens on Kauai might have something to due with the Mongoose population.
The mongoose was introduced in Hawaii in 1883 in a failed effort to control rats that were feeding on sugar cane. The story goes that Kauai was spared the pest because a dock worker, bitten by a caged mongoose bound for the Garden Island, kicked the cage into the water.
The mongoose decimated all the native ground, nesting birds in Hawaii by eating the eggs except for on Kauai. So I guess Chickens thrive over on Kauai when they probably wouldn’t do very well someplace like Maui or Oahu. Maybe every island would be covered with chickens if it weren’t for the Mongoose. That would be cool. I love Chickens. They make me feel like I’m in the country.
Thanks for all the great comments, everyone!
@ Melanie - they are kind of funny. They didn’t bother me, but I could see how living with them day in and day out might get a bit old for a resident.
@ Kauai Wildlife Photos - some very nice cottages you have there on the North Shore!
@ Keahi - Interesting….I think I had heard that there had been some debate about how to control the chicken population on Oahu.
@ Chris - LOL - that’s a funny way to have your “cover” blown. But, in todays world of the internet and high speed connections professional businesses can operate from anywhere.
@ Jan - Hmmm…interesting theory about the absence of the mongoose. There’s an interesting story we’ve heard on why there aren’t any mongoose (or is it mongeese?) in Kauai. The mongoose was introduced to Hawaii to help control the rat population, but they didn’t help the rat problem at all. The mongoose is active in the day while the rat is active at night, so the two never saw each other. I heard that there was a ship enroute to Kauai to introduce the mongoose there, but a mongoose bit the ship’s captain and he got mad and dumped all the mongoose overboard.
@ Al - yeah, that’s a very good question. about the pre-Iniki population… Inquiring minds want to know.
@ JulieAnn - that’s a nice roster action shot!
If I remember correctly, we took our photo around one of the Waimea Canyon lookouts.
@ Dave - we must have been commenting at the same time.
Sounds like we’ve heard very similar stories about why the mongoose never made it to Hawaii.
Because even chickens need a vacation! ;^)
Oh! A speckled bird! I’ll go with the Iniki story. That was quite a day and quite a bit of agony thereafter.
Birds and people are survivors!
Sheila, A funny story from a friend of mine who is quite the Fashion Queen.” While visiting Kauai, she wore her new, glittery, and very expensive shoes to dinner at an upscale restaurant. They had to park
” down the road a piece.” and she was quite upset that some chickens were pecking at the baubles on her shoes during her walk to the restaurant Some people have NO sense of humor!
@ Dave - Haha! Yeah, if I was a chicken, I think I would enjoy living in the wild on Kauai.
@ Evelyn - Iniki sure was quite a storm…category 4 Hurricane. Yikes! Some places that were damaged still haven’t recovered. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that the Coco Palms will be restored.
@ Jan - That’s hilarious! Thanks for sharing that story. Coincidentally, just yesterday I was thinking I should probably write some more detailed posts about what shoes and clothes to pack for Hawaii with more detail than I cover here: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2007/07/23/what-to-pack-for-your-hawaii-vacation/ When I write those posts, I’ll make sure to suggest that you leave the fancy sequined shoes at home.
Me and many others call Kauai “Chicken Island” because of all the chickens running loose over there. It’s to the point where you have to wait sometimes for the chicken to actually cross the road! Talking with friends and others on Kauai they say that the large population of chickens is from Hurricane Iniki which set the chickens free into the wild and allowed them to breed and multiply without any control.
Here’s pics of chickens on “Chicken Island”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/808talk/tags/chickenisland/
@ VBrown - those are some nice chicken shots.
Hmm…”Chicken Island”, huh? That’s pretty funny. Well since Kauai is also known as the “Garden Isle” maybe Kauai should have a new nickname combining the two…perhaps “Chicken Salad Island”…just kidding.