Scientists Study Bermuda’s Feral Chickens

The feral chickens commonly seen across Bermuda have become the focus of a scientific study comparing their gut bacteria and immune responses with those of commercially raised chickens.

The research — published in the journal Poultry Science — compared 21 feral chickens collected around St George’s Island with 12 Cobb 500 broiler chickens raised at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The study said, “Bermuda supports a large self-sustaining population of feral chickens that have been living in the wild since at least the mid-1980s. Based on preliminary genetic and morphological analyses, these birds appear to be an admixed flock originating from several breeds that are popular sources for meat and egg production in the Western hemisphere.

“Our ad hoc qualitative observations of gut content in Bermuda feral chickens [BFC] suggest a highly variable diet including locally-occurring invertebrates [e.g., snails and insects], local ornamental and/or natural vegetation [e.g., seeds and shoots] and garbage from Bermuda households and businesses. Since BFC has persisted without human management or artificial selection for several decades, it represents a rare and valuable opportunity to examine how sustained exposure to a diverse and unmanaged microbial environment shapes host immune function.”

The study noted, “Collection and export of samples derived from feral chickens was approved by the Bermuda Department of Environment and Natural Resources in support of the Bermuda Biodiversity Project. In addition, this study was performed in accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health.”

The study involved researchers affiliated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Michigan State University, Nova Southeastern University and Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production.

The study provides highly detailed scientific information, and you can read more here.

The government has been trying to reduce the amount of feral chickens roaming around the island, and residents can submit a request to have feral birds removed from their property or any public lands. In addition to submitting requests, the Feral Bird Management Dashboard lets residents see where control actions are taking place and how many feral birds have been removed by species.

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Category: All, Environment, News