Comments on: Why Does Kauai Have So Many Wild Chickens?

By: Tourist1

Tourist1 — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:11:47 +0000

Omg I hate the stupid roosters!! This is my first time to the island and we are renting a house on the south shore. They never stop cock a doodle doing !! Keep me up all night at about 1 or 4 am and continue throughout the entire night and day. I would not come back- I can’t get a relaxful sleep whatsoever!! Kill the roosters!!!

By: Patty

Patty — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:39:09 +0000

After a little research on this curious question….. why so many chickens in Kauai???
The chickens where cute at first then annoying after a couple of days.
From my curious question I found…the chickens population started in the 70′s when cock roaches infested the island. A friend was on the island when she was young,1975, and she remembers the nasty bug in and around hotels and when leaving the island at the airport the employees were fogging her suitcase for cock roachs, not to bring them back into the big states.
Chickens love to eat “Bugs”. So the chicken where invited in to take care of the “bugs”. Now the chickens are over populated.
The goverment did that in other states too. Goverment brought in the little Asian beetle to eat other bugs here… now to many beetles. Same thing..

By: ololaiki

ololaiki — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:53:34 +0000

Thank you Tom!

Do you have any links to share or a book recommendation where I can read more about the chickens of Kauai?

And my special thanks for calling them “wonderful birds” that they are!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:10:53 +0000

aloha CoreyD: you bet. When I counted beaks this morning, there were 11 including four babies. And they are laying eggs in peculiar places. Adds to the drama.

Aloha Oe.

By: Corey D

Corey D — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:41:49 +0000

Hi Stephanie,
I would love to come back and bring my mom and four kids, just very expensive to fly there. Maybe if we do we will come see your brood, Kahuna, Goldie and young!
Aloha
Corey D

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:19:54 +0000

aloha Corey:

Mahalo for your cute stories. Chickens can be an endless source of amusement. I never realized until I had my own. When we moved to the Big Island, one Big Yellow polynesian banty walked in one day and adopted us. Soon after we were gifted with a sweet Brown Hen named Goldie. Well Goldie and Mr. Rooster consummated their immediate marriage under our jaguar. Goldie started laying those wonderful brown eggs immediately. Eventually, she hid herself away sitting on a nest. 21 days later, out she marched with her babies in tow. Our life has not been the same since. We have 3 or 4 laying hens now and I have had to weed out several roosters. Too many of those and the girls get fought over. Not conducive to a peaceful clutch of eggs. So Kahuna, Goldie and her teenage daughters, Nutmeg, Pepper and their children march around all day merrily picking and scratching for bugs and tilling soil for us and waiting for their daily treats of grain and corn and papaya. They are curious and smart and have memories like elephants.

Hope you get to visit the islands again soon.

Aloha oe
Stephanie

By: Corey D

Corey D — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 13:46:28 +0000

aloha Stephanie,
I have heard conflicting stories on how they taste, but would love to come back and try it. They never woke me once while I was there, even still I grew up on a farm and in a small town where we had chickens and enjoyed the crowing. We had this one Bantom that could never finish his crow, it sounded like er er er er ehhh. Hilarious sound! Bug control is a good point, I was just hoping for more indigenous birds and expect those bug meals would help to maintain other species. I have some really beautiful pics of the chickens and will still remember our visit fondly. Thanks for your comments.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:11:45 +0000

aloha CoreyD:

Well, I am a transplanted mainlander and I for one enjoy the chickens. There is a joke among the locals in Kauai that I once heard….If you see island chicken on the menu in a restaurant, then you are in for a rare organic treat for dinner. We islanders get used to things here…it is all part of the aloha. The chickens keep the bug population down and don’t hurt anyone.
Some people like myself adopt strays that wander in and care for them like our pets. They stay and provide eggs and meat if we so desire to consume our own chickens like that. City folk don’t like their sleep disturbed by the roosters that crow on EST. But I would rather hear a rooster crowing than sirens of police cars or helicopters. All is right with the world with the rooster heralding and keeping vigil throughout the night.

Additionally, if the economy of the world goes belly up and shipped goods become astronomically expensive, those island chickens will start to look mighty good for dinner. We grow our own vegetables and talapia for food, why not those wonderfully easy to reproduce chickens.

Aloha for listening to my two cents worth

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:01:02 +0000

I was visiting Kauai in the mid 80′s and I don’t remember any chickens running around too much. When visiting in 2004, I was astounded to find the fowl population all over and quite at home on the beaches around people. My son in law had never seen such a sight and we all enjoyed them. I am sure post Iniki chicken population must have tripled and relocated in the windy turmoil of the storm. I live on Big Island now and have free range chickens of my own that are fairly tame to a degree. They enjoy their daily handout and happily give me eggs and babies to enjoy.

hawaiianchickenmama

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:34:46 +0000

I heard that they were going to introduce the Mongoose to the island but when the crate arived to the island, one of them bit the deck hand and he kicked the crate off the boat, thus keeping the chicken free of predators.

GO chicken!

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:16:53 +0000

I was over there recently and saw many wild chickens on both Oahu and The Big Island. I met a local guy who had been breeding fighting chickens for the last 30 years, I was amazed how openly he talked about it!

By: CoreyD

CoreyD — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 18:19:50 +0000

We just got back from Kauai and I have to tell you that I was slightly annoyed with all the chickens. The island is beautiful and I was hoping to see more indigenous bird species(spp) other than morning doves, rock doves(pigeons) and chickens. I work as a biologist in Canada and I am involved in invasive species control. If the chicken was introduced and the population exploded, for what ever reason(i.e., overturned truck or Iniki, etc), then some form of control should be initiated. Counties and Provinces have the ability to up-list species on the control list if they are considered more of a regional problem, and I would assume that up-listing problem species in the US could also be conducted. If the chickens are protected by the state, this would pose a significant problem with ref to population control. I understand from many of your comments that you like to see the chickens, but although they are a beautiful animal, you will lose native species to this invasive(chicken) that will for example compete for insects that may be part the diet of the native toad spp on the island. There needs to be measures put in place now before the chickens displace more of your local wildlife. I observed at Poipu beach, the chickens congregating around the sewer man-hole covers just hammering the bugs exiting the small one inch hole in the metal cover. The feeding frenzy was very entertaining, but I would expect that this species of bug, which looked like a roach, would be better served as a meal for indigenous wildlife. I enjoyed our time on Kauai immensely and I wish them luck on controlling the chicken population.

By: FeralKevin

FeralKevin — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:40:04 +0000

I’m sorry but I just don’t understand why these chickens aren’t eaten by people. “Natural predators”?! We’re called humans. We bred them to be “chickens” and brought them to this isolated Pacific island. Coconut chicken. Yum.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 04:27:27 +0000

It is believed that the ancester of all modern chickens today came from Asia somewhere around Thailand. They are believed to be the first bird domesticated by man and were called Red Jungle Fowl. The people who became the Polynesians brought the Red Jungle Fowl with them as they populated the islands of Polynesia.
When the Polynesians came to Hawaii between 100 to 300 AD, they brought with them the first introduced animals including Red Jungle Fowl. There were no predators in the islands so they escaped into the interior and reproduced. For over 1500 years their bloodline remained intact isolated in the middle of the Pacific. All the Hawaiian Islands were populated with Red Jungle Fowl.
When the modern world showed up and began growing sugar cane around 1824 they had a problem with rats eating the sweet sugar cane stalk. They introduced the Mongoose to the other Islands except Kauai. The Mongoose love eggs and the Red Jungle population began to decline on the other islands.
Modern chickens were then introduced and some escaped due to storms such as hurricanes and were blown into the interior where they began to interbreed with the Red Jungle Fowl. Today the number of Red Jungle Fowl have been reduced due to interbreeding. Scientists believe the last remaining somewhat pure blooded Red Jungle Fowl are found deep within Kauai’s interior and they are protected by the Rare and Indangered Species Act. You could be arrested or pay a fine for disturbing the Red Jungle Fowl. One day they will all be gone due to interbreeding.
One of the unique behavioral traits of Red Jungle Fowl that separates them from domestic chickens is when the Rooster mates with a Hen he will bond for life like some geese. The Rooster will stay with his Hen and help protect and take care of the baby chicks, unlike domestic chickens. If you see a Rooster, Hen and baby chicks staying together this is a trait of Red Jungle Fowl behavior. They also fly very well, much like phesants, they remain on the ground but if they need to take flight they can.
Most of the chickens you see on Kauai are cross breeds and are not the protected birds. They look similar to Bantams with their coloration but are very different.
The locals of Kauai Love our chickens it is the new commers that have not learned to adapt and appreciate these wonderful birds.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:16:55 +0000

I visited Kauai a year ago in the Princeville area on the North side of the island. The roosters crowed day and night. Especially very early in the morning, waking me up. Several times they were right outside my bedroom window, which was open, causing me to nearly jump out of my bed from a sound sleep. I go on vacation to get rest and relaxation. Needless to say I won’t be going back to Kauai again. I will stick with Maui in the future.

By: The Mystery of the Hawaiian Chickens « First Person Irregular

The Mystery of the Hawaiian Chickens « First Person Irregular — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:04:01 +0000

[...] There are so many that the Hawaiian visitor’s bureau even has a page answering the question, “Why Does Kauai Have So Many Wild Chickens?” [...]

By: sheila

sheila — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:30:30 +0000

Just got back from Kauai and the chicken population has exploded. We noticed a lot more from our last visit in 2008 and way, way more than our visit in 2003. Kauai needs more KFCs

By: Shirley

Shirley — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:17:08 +0000

I’ve recently produced ROOSTER PATCHES that have become a popular souvenir item.
Anyone wanting a picture of the Rooster Patch or want to purchase one, email me at roosterandgifts@yahoo.com

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:30:42 +0000

I just posted a writeup and some pics about the the Kauai Chickens (as well as the adorable red crested cardinals) on my own blog. My sister and I tried to count them on our last visit – basically, there are too many to count

http://silenceoftheclams.com/blog/2010/04/friends-and-chickens/

They are beautiful, but have no sense of time. If you ran your life by the cocks crow, you’d be up at 4am, or noon, or 2pm, or 3pm….

By: Shari Taylor

Shari Taylor — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:32:56 +0000

Well…..my son just moved to Iwa Beach on Oahu……..when I talk to him on the phone there is a rooster in the background……he says there are alot of wild chickens running all over the open areas…………