Kauaʻi Chickens
If you’ve been to the Garden Isle you’ve encountered our unofficial mascot–the chicken! The last thing most people expect to go hand-in-hand with a tropical paradise is a farm animal, but the chickens outnumber the humans on the island at this point. With an estimated 450,000 chickens to 80,000 residents on Kauaʻi, wherever your day begins, it will almost always start with the sound of a rooster crowing.
Whether it’s up the mountain in Kokeʻē, clucking along the beach, or holding court at parks and in parking lots, wherever there is food and/or humans, there will be chickens. Although businesses beg visitors not to feed the chickens, it seems to be a losing battle. These native scavengers are truly an example of survival of the fittest, and their presence on the island dates back to the first Polynesian settlers. Brought over via canoe by native way finders, the chicken population has only grown since. The arrival of the red junglefowl (mua) dates back to 1200 AD, with domesticated chickens arriving in the mid-1900s. After Hurricane Iwa and Iniki, many of the cooped chickens were displaced, further exacerbating the growing population issue. Now, the breeds are so intermixed that the feral population consists of different types of chickens, both wild and domestic.
Although beautiful, the chickens are not popular among the locals. Most Kauaʻi residents consider them a nuisance, but they do have their good qualities as well.
PROS
- Bug population control – Chickens keep the mosquito population down, as well as the dreaded centipede. Their appetite for insects helps to protect many crops from diseases brought on by invasive insects.
- Novelty – Kauaʻi chickens are beautiful and have made enough of a name for themselves to be featured on postcards, t-shirts, and other mementos geared towards visitors.
- The photo op – Let’s face it. A wild chicken cruising the beach is a great photo. Kauaʻi roosters are known for their shiny black coloring with splashes of bright orange and red. While the hens are less colorful, they are often surrounded by a brood of cute chirping chicks, and who can resist that?
CONS
- Loud – The roosters begin crowing before dawn, which is not always a welcome start to the day.
- Destructive – Chickens often dig up, scratch, and peck at crops, gardens, and plants.
- Too many – The sheer amount of chickens is a threat to native plants and farming. They can be a danger on the road as vehicles are forced to swerve to avoid hitting them.
- Health hazard – The chickens’ droppings have been linked to several viruses that affect both humans and pets.
Banana Patch Studio
In an effort to tackle the chicken population issue, Hawaiʻi has enacted a new law as of July 2024. In a joint approach with the Department of Agriculture and county governments, population control initiatives and public education programs are being put into place. The chicken population in areas where visitors tend to feed the birds has gotten out of control, enhancing the threat to our delicate ecosystem. With that said, chickens are a part of Kauaʻi’s charm, so please enjoy them… but keep your plate lunch leftovers for yourself.