Clusters of 12 to 15 wild chickens roam the middle of Oahu roadways, prompting authorities in Hawaii to urge residents and tourists to stop feeding the island’s exploding feral bird population.
The animals create a health risk, rampaging across properties while destroying lawns and gardens. Officials launched a public awareness campaign featuring signs on public transport and in parks with a direct message: “Do Not Feed Feral Chicken.”
Crews have set up traps across Oahu to catch the birds, though the city cannot solve the crisis alone, Department of Customer Services Director Kim Hashiro said. She urged residents and business owners to stop feeding the fowl so pest-control teams can work safely.
Reports suggest some of the traps have been vandalized and tampered with. The situation has angered residents for years, and a 2022 state legislative effort to allocate funding through Senate Bill 2195 ultimately failed to gain wider support.
“As a property owner, it’s frustrating to have to battle the feral fowl that have been so destructive of our yard and gardens,” Aiea resident Robert Peine said. He added that the chicken droppings are unhygienic, foul-smelling, and unsightly.
Maria White, another resident of Aiea, called for the government to step in to remove or eradicate the birds because they create a filthy mess, cause serious noise, and repeatedly damage yards.
Other residents pointed to the island’s illegal cockfighting trade as the root cause of the infestation.
Because cockfighting remains a misdemeanor carrying insignificant fines of no more than $250, current laws lack any real deterrent effect, according to residents who noted that breeders continue to reinfest neighborhoods with rejected birds.
Earlier coverage: Honolulu Officials Urge Public to Stop Feeding Feral Chickens
