What Is The Plan To Address Feral Chickens?
“You can call the police to report a person disturbing the peace but when feral roosters are crowing all night, you’re on your own,” Senator Robin Tucker said.
The OBA Senator said, “When attempting to report the problem to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the automated response indicates it doesn’t have the resources to assist.
“In addition to disturbing a peaceful night’s sleep, chickens are eating farmers’ fruits and vegetables intended for our tables, and reportedly costing them tens of thousands of dollars in losses. In addition, these nuisances are pulling out trash awaiting a weekly pickup, and contributing to our rodent problem.
“The Feral Chicken Management Plan currently on the Government website is 10 years old, so can Minister Roban or the Department of Environment and Natural Resources please let the public know what the plan is to address this longtime problem on the island?
“At the rate that chickens reproduce, the disruption they cause and the destruction to our food supply, ignoring them is simply not an option.”
As much of a nuisance as they can be…this is what the OBA is concerned about?
So you agree the OBA cares about Bermuda’s environment and its people’s quality of life, whereas the PLP sees no value at all in these issues. The PLP is content to let the island get overrun with rats and feral chickens, believing it to be a minor inconvenience. Got it.
Well, cock-a-doodle-do!
Does it matter ? You’ll never miss a chance to denigrate them no matter how legitimate their stance on anything .
What’s the plp concerned with? Not the economy. Not the general health of the population. They’re concerned with their own funding, nothing more.
The island is overrun with rats and feral chickens. The government has no plan to do anything about it. I feel for the Vector Control employees, who do their best, but are under-resourced.
Can’t even get Vector to come and service the bait boxes without begging and begging even though they claim that once you have them they automatically come every 2 weeks.
The island is overrun with feral PLP MP’s.
Vote em out.
True Dat !
We are not permitted to have traps. Why? Chickens are smart but they can be caught in traps.
Seen traps suitable in places like Tractor Supply & other farm supply stores for about $50. They should be available here duty free.
Some of us have no problem doing what needs to be done once the chicken is caught. Fed up with the destruction chickens cause. Even worse, fed up with people who feed these feral chickens.
The roosters are the hard ones to get . They seem instinctively suspicious of the traps no matter how deliciously they’re baited .
But something’s going to have to change re the availability of traps . This is a crisis situation now .
Oh , did you know that you virtually have to chain and lock the traps on your property ? They’re highly theivable .
Lord Triangle you sound like Mike Dunkee.
Chill man.
I guess that you do not try to grow anything in your yard & don’t care about anyone that does.
spoiled humans leave them chickens alone let them be and close your window so simple
WW# food leave them.
Finally someone who addresses practical issues. These chickens are destructive and spread disease. We searched for someone to assist and we were willing to pay as our neighbourhood has been highjacked by these pests. No takers!!!! Call government and the message is clear, no one available they are busy dealing with rats, oh and they are a problem too but we do our own boxes because the vector control folks are working flat out, but it is costly replacing the bait frequently.
I finally found after much research, that RAW green beans for the chickens keeps them out of my yard. Try it, it might help!
I’d like to hear a detailed account about this ‘raw green beans’ thing .
What does one do , spread green string beans all around their borders ?
If you’re not growing a bumper crop of them cheaply yourself this could be expensive and who wants to waste lovely fresh green beans ?
With the rising price of eggs and food scarcity, surely a logical step might be to domesticate and coop feral chickens for eggs. Clean them with a dietary supplements like diluted oregano oil and chilli flakes. 3 hens will give you enough eggs for a family of 4. Feed them your veggie scraps as well as feed to reduce organic waste.
I can guarantee you that Bermuda is the only place in the world where inhabitants make such complaints instead of being proactive and making an opportunity of it. We have been too spoiled and disconnected from our food sources for too long. What do you think the conditions are like for chickens in the abbatoirs that you support through buying their products with your hard earned dollars? Typically disgusting, and to prevent pathogens they give them antibiotics which later affects your health and provides the opportunity for spreading antibiotic resistant pathogens – chickens in poultry farms with open soars, passing diseases because they’re farmed en masse, don’t see sunlight, don’t have access to fresh food and water.
How many of you typically buy local or grow your own produce that the presence of chickens is actually a concern for you? This seems like a strawman argument.
God forbid that those boats stop making trips across the Atlantic to bring us our food in neat plastic packaging and we have to fend for ourselves like our ancestors did.
Honestly, you lot.
For you and Barb below , and all the other people of the same train of thought.
The late Neil Burnie DVM conducted an independent study into the feasibility of using all of these feral chickens .
What he found out was that the hens eggs are smaller than store bought ones and they taste odd.
What little meat there was on the chickens was tasteless and tough no matter how it was prepared . They couldn’t be altered by spending large amounts on expensive foods and vet treatments to get them to point of domesticated hens.
So , they were deemed useless , and just pests.
Eliminate them , and the sooner the better .
That sounds like pure foolishness. The eggs taste like egg, the yolk are darker and the consistency of whites and the yolk is less watery than store bought. Neil may not have known how to season meat but that argument holds no water either. To domesticate feral chickens does not require expensive feed or vet treatment.
Many of the feral chickens are bantams, so eggs will be smaller than shop bought. What ‘study’ are you referring to by Neil Burnie? He may not have been around when there was a successful feral chicken capture, feed, vetinary check and food (poultry + eggs) production project for the prison farm several years ago. The reason that stopped was feed costs by gov’t. having financial cutbacks at the time. Freddie Ming was consulted on suitable menu items and they were thoroughly enjoyed.St. George’s Prep used to keep them for eggs and to teach children where food comes from.
It was a private study (research) based on his own personal interest if anything could be done with the pests.
And I’ll take his word over what all the bleedin’ heart non experts who have never raised chickens before have to say.
Funnily , a friend eradicated a feral rooster from their neighborhood yesterday and the champagne hasn’t stopped flowing yet on the 6 surrounding properties.
Veterinarians have one skill set, farmers have another.
I have much respect for the late Neil Burnie, but I would prefer to hear from a person with experience of raising and keeping chickens on how best to keep the feral bantams at bay.
What is someone who responsibly raises (and ‘keeps’) chickens going to say ? ‘Don’t let them escape’ ?
That horse has long bolted and we are where we are .
If , however , someone takes a look at someone like Tom Wadson’s chickens on his farm they’re a totally different thing than these useless , scrawny , bug infested garden destroyers and maddening noise makers.
May I suggest that people coop the chickens, have them vaccinated against disease, feed them with chicken feed, and keep them for eggs. You feed them, and they will provide for you.