Kauai Feral Chickens (home, transfer, storage)

[lauleahere&there]

Originally Posted by tropical87

Ok, forgive my ignorance, but how do feral chickens differ in appearance and behaviour from the domestic variety?

Most of the feral chickens you see on Moloka'i are Red Junglefowl - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . They are the ancestors of domestic chickens, and seem to be pretty darn good at surviving and multiplying. I know that some domestic breeds are bred to be more docile than others. I reckon feral chickens are anything but docile. Maybe you could tame them if you raise them in captivity from chicks.

[tyvin]

It was from Iniki, which hit the whole island.
The hurricane literally blew the chickens everywhere.
The other hurricane mentioned was Iwa in 82' and struck the east side.
The chickens are everywhere and I believe it's illegal to harm them unless a hazardous situation exists. I know the county council tried to come up with a resolution for the matter but I don't know if they ever did.
The chickens are part of Kauai now.
**** a doodle do!

[Sweetbeet]

I have heard from locals that there were wild chickens here before Iniki. Don't know if it's true or not.

It is legal to catch or kill them if they're on your property. It's not legal to kill them elsewhere (except, perhaps, in designated hunting zones, I'm not sure about that; when I looked up the law I was focusing on whether we could trap and/or kill them on our property [we don't and never have, but at some point before we moved here my son thought he'd like to try to shoot one with a bow and arrow and cook it]). I don't know if cruelty laws would apply to them (i.e., whether you'd get in trouble for torturing them). People DO use pellet guns, water pistols, dogs, and all sorts of other ways of getting them to go away.

[winkosmosis]

Is it safe to eat these feral chickens? I'd be afraid of the chemicals that they might be eating... pesticides, herbicides etc.

[Mar0]

The meat is evidently really tough and not good for eating.

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Is it safe to eat these feral chickens? I'd be afraid of the chemicals that they might be eating... pesticides, herbicides etc.

Other than the large scale farming operations, most people just don't use chemicals on their yards, etc. like on the mainland.

[franklin42]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Is it safe to eat these feral chickens? I'd be afraid of the chemicals that they might be eating... pesticides, herbicides etc.

Where I live, I definitely wouldn't eat them. The county sprays weed killer along the sides of the roads and all of my neighbors spray the weeds in their yard with round up every month. Heck, I wouldn't eat them anyway, I've heard the meat is tough.

[HankDfrmSD]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/2369038-post4.html

[hotzcatz]

Some might be tough, some may not be tough, most of it depends on the age of the bird. Check the end of the breastbone after you've cleaned the chicken. If it is soft and pliable like the ones on grocery store chickens, then the chicken can be fried or roasted. If the breastbone is hard bone all the way to the tip, then it is a stewing or soup chicken. Put the carcass in chilled salt water in the refrigerator overnight. That helps tenderize and helps keep the meat moist when cooking it.

If it is hard bone, then it will probably make an excellent soup chicken. It is hard to get chicken flavor from the grocery store chickens. Clean it, cut the carcass up into pieces, add a bit of salt and other herbs if you like then simmer the chicken until it is either tender or the meat falls off the bones. (Two hours if you can't decide) If the meat is still tough, then remove that and feed it to your dog or cat and save the broth for making saimin, chicken noodle soup, etc., with.

[winkosmosis]

I bet those feral chickens taste much better than factory farmed ones. Before my parents and I immigrated to the US in 1995 we visited in 1991... The chicken tasted horrible vs the more naturally raised chicken in the Caribbean. I was 6 yrs old with no restraint so I complained a lot about the chicken . Now I'm used to crappy chicken though. Or maybe they've improved it in the last 20 years.