I remember seeing chickens in the rental car lot at the airport when I first arrived on Maui twenty-one years ago. I commented to the person behind the counter that I didn’t expect to see that when I landed, and they said, “You’ll see more.”
I did.
Since then I have lived all over the island, and every place had chickens. Lots of chickens.
The Polynesians brought red junglefowl over when they settled the islands over a thousand years ago. These were cross-bred with domestic chickens after Captain Cook’s arrival in 1778. Nowadays it seems like chickens have just about taken over.
On Kauai, domesticated chickens and lots of roosters bred for cockfighting were released after hurricane Iniki destroyed coops all over the island in 1992. These birds ended up cross-breeding with the local chickens and they have now exploded in numbers. Kauai is the one island where Mongoose were not introduced, so that has a profound effect.
Everywhere I have lived AND worked had chickens hanging around. So, occasionally I would feed and befriend one from the group and get it to come when I would call. Some would sit on my arm or my knee when directed to and some would eat from my hand.
For many folks that move here, chickens can be a source of never-ending annoyance. They’ve been known to ruin many a good sleep as roosters crow at any hour throughout the night. The thing about chickens only crowing at dawn is an old wives’ tale. Most stores here stock earplugs.
Where I currently reside, there are usually around ten or twelve chickens that hang around the yard full time because I feed them scraps and leftovers. They never forget that. If you feed them, they will forever associate you with food. This can be problematic…like having chickens march into the house whenever a door is left open for more than a couple minutes, or them climbing into the open window of my truck.
We have a severe feral cat problem on Maui, and some folks wonder why they don’t eat the chickens. Well, a cat might get a chick, but I have never seen one go for an adult. In fact, you will often see them eating side-by-side at some of the cat feeding stations around the island. I think there’s a mutual respect that exists between the two.
Another side of chickens here on Maui is the ongoing popularity of the cruel sport of cockfighting. While it is illegal, it’s still considered a cultural tradition in many communities. Undercover busts of cockfighting operations are in the news from time to time.
A positive side to the chicken situation is that lots of folks have coops here, so there is a constant source of fresh local eggs! Wherever you are on Maui, you are certain to see the results of this introduced species gone wild.