The last bill aimed at controlling and reducing the population of feral chickens across Hawaii died this week in the Legislature, once again, as residents remain divided over whether the ubiquitous presence of chickens in both urban and rural areas represents part of Hawaii’s cultural and agricultural past or a modern-day nuisance.
Untold numbers of Hawaii residents find early morning crowing unbearable even as others rely on them as natural alarm clocks to start their days.
In the urban areas of Kalihi and Chinatown, children are even growing up staging deadly cockfights by tying string around the legs of wild chickens they find in their neighborhoods in battles to the death.
Cockfighting, now outlawed and considered inhumane, dates back more than a century to Hawaii’s plantation era but remains part of cultural tradition in some communities, said Sydney Willis, a 23-year-old security guard at Waena Apartments on the edge of Chinatown.
“On property, a lot of the chickens have ropes and threads tied to their ankles. They’re easier for the kids to catch by stepping on them,” Willis said.
Willis grew up in Kaneohe but now lives in Kapolei, where she knows that many people take advantage of the birds for cockfights that last until one is slashed to death by a metal gaff attached to the winner’s leg.
“They all gamble against whose chicken will win,” she said. “It’s all about betting.”
Kids living at the Kuhio Park Terrace public housing project in Kalihi also stage cockfights.
For KPT resident June Talia, the fights are just as disruptive as the chickens themselves.
“This whole community not only wakes up to these chickens but also to kids running around in back yards trying to catch them then make them fight against each other then leave them dead,” Talia wrote in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
At Waena Apartments, Willis also has to navigate “complaints about poop everywhere, on the grills and picnic areas, and kids trying to catch them all the time,” she said.
Other residents regularly feed the chickens, which causes flocks of birds to return to the same area for their meals.
“When they have leftover rice, they’ll throw it out onto the grass for the chickens to eat,” Willis said.
For some, feeding chickens also connects them to their spiritual beliefs.
“It’s a cultural thing, because they were here first,” Willis said.
Lampi Johnny, a 21-year-old from Chuuk, moved to Liliha a month ago and likes to be awakened by the sound of crowing.
“It’s kind of important, in the morning they caw,” she told the Star-Advertiser outside of her apartment.
Johnny laughed as she pointed to a group of chicks on her neighbor’s lanai.
“They’re even cute,” she said.
State Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D, Kaneohe-Maunawili) has been searching for nearly a decade to find a reliable and affordable way for residents to crack down on feral chickens.
This year three bills were introduced in the House that were aimed at controlling various feral animals, including chickens.
Only one — the latest version of House Bill 980 —passed out of the House and into the Senate at the midpoint of the legislative session, only to die last week when it was deferred by the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee.
It would have authorized feral chickens to be killed “under certain circumstances.”
“Way back when I was on the neighborhood board, I proposed chicken birth control,” Matayoshi said.
But that approach has its own shortcomings.
“The problem with chicken birth control is that you have to constantly feed it to them,” Matayoshi said.
So he continues to look for potential solutions because, Matayoshi said, “Private citizens on their own private property should have a way to be able to deal with feral chickens, where they’re not afraid they’ll be indicted for animal cruelty.”
“That’s the main issue that this bill tried to address.”
Many Hawaii residents want to get rid of chickens but aren’t sure how to do so legally and on their own.
So Matayoshi refers people with pest control concerns to Mitchell Tynanas, who has made a business out of feral animal removal.
“He’s the guy who helps my constituents take care of feral chickens,” Matayoshi said.
Using spring-loaded traps, Tynanas responds to removal requests from both the city and residents of Oahu with his company Boars No More LLC.
Tynanas lives in Ewa and has a farm in Waimanalo where he takes the feral animals.
He houses the animals and often has visitors who enjoy the farm, sometimes even taking a chicken or two home.
“I barter them,” Tynanas said. “I don’t take money. I just say, ‘Buy me a bag of feed,’ then I can feed my animals and use it as bait to catch more.”
Tynanas started his business as a not-for-profit by helping community members overrun by feral animals like chickens, cats and pigs.
“Nobody wants to do it, so I said, ‘I gotta do what I gotta do,’” he said.
He believes the solution to overpopulation starts with a collective agreement to “stop feeding the feral animals.”
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Help control chickens and roosters
Contact the Department of Customer Services to report issues on city property such as parks, building areas and other local government property:
>> Email: complaints@honolulu.gov, or call 808-768-4381.
>> Online: Go to the Honolulu 311 webpage at honoluluhi.citysourced.com or download the HNL311 app to file a report.
>> Private property owners on Oahu could benefit from the latest efforts to help control a growing feral chicken population by caging and disposing of the animals. For more information on the service, visit sandwichisle.com or call 808-456-7716.
Source: City and County of Honolulu
