From raising to eat & for eggs to now a nuisance; Yard chickens in VI
Many locals, as well as those from other parts of the Caribbean living in the VI, also raised them for their eggs, which were sometimes shipped to St Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands for sale or as gifts to families who had migrated there.
Today, however, yard chickens have become a nuisance to residents, business owners and some farmers. With 90 per cent of everything we eat being imported, including eggs and chickens, the value of the yard chicken has decreased.
Yard Chicken a nuisance?
No longer are we dependent on eggs or meat from the yard chicken, as we have the easy way of going into the supermarkets and getting our chickens and eggs imported from overseas, cheaper and hassle-free, without having to pluck a fowl before it’s cooked.
While the territory has about six poultry farmers who raise chickens in a controlled environment, providing eggs to local supermarkets, restaurants, and some resorts, commercial poultry farming for chickens and eggs for restaurants and in-house consumption is still young, and not enough to meet the local demand.
But back to the yard chickens, which today have become a nuisance for many. They roam freely in many residents’ yards and businesses, along with scratching up entire sections of grass and small vegetation. They can also be a trouble to small local farmers as they can destroy flowers and crops.
They also continue to leave unsightly droppings on residents' steps, porches and driveways.
Many residents or farmers cannot afford to purchase wire for fences to keep the fowls out or locked away.
Three restaurant owners on Tortola, speaking to our newsroom on condition of anonymity, agreed that the yard chicken is a nuisance to their restaurants.
What can be done?
"They are always around, eating things that fall from our customers and leaving their droppings in the dining rooms," one restaurant owner stated.
They told our News centre they have called the Department of Agriculture to help remove them, "but these fowls often come back sometimes in abundance, hens with chickens."
The yard chickens are “loud and messy, and they make such a mess in the yard and in many restaurants," the business owner noted.
Someone recommended getting a dog as a way to keep the chickens out of one's yard.
Many residents make the mistake of feeding the chickens, so they never go away, but they still complain about them being an annoyance.
The Agriculture Department reportedly has no statistics on the estimated number of yard chickens in the VI, as they reproduce very rapidly.
Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Theodore E. James, could not be reached up to publication time.
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28 Responses to “From raising to eat & for eggs to now a nuisance; Yard chickens in VI”
District One’s cock Karl crows at 4 a.m.,
Wakes the people, disturbs the fam.
Plenty noise, but when day is done,
Not a single egg, not even one.
District Two’s cock Mitch loves shiny feed,
Scratches up grass with careless greed.
Said he’d guard the farmer’s corn,
But leaves the garden tattered, torn.
District Three’s [Julian cock puffs his chest,
Claims his crow is loudest, best.
Yet when the fox slips through the gate,
He’s the first to hide, the last to wait.
District Four’s hen Luce perches high,
Talks in riddles, wings awry.
She clucks of plans, of golden days,
But leaves behind just droppings’ haze.
District Five’s Kye cock loves other yards,
Pecking scraps, neglecting guards.
The coop at home goes bare and thin,
But he struts abroad with foolish grin.
District Six’s cock Myron sharp of beak,
Pecks the weak but spares the sleek.
He crows of “service” loud and proud,
While trampling seedlings in a crowd.
District Seven’s Slowande cock will crow all night,
Keeps the farmers from their sleep tight.
When it’s time to work the land,
He’s nowhere near with helping hand.
District Eight’s cock Marlon scratches seeds,
Never tending to the people’s needs.
He struts in circles round the pen,
Promising eggs, but none again.
District Nine’s cock Vincy by seaside sand,
Leaves droppings deep across the land.
Crows of waves and fishing nets,
Yet fills no plates, collects no debts.
Now come the At-Large four
Cock Stacey, Cock Ronnie, Hen Lorna, Hen Sharie,
The fattest fowls inside the pens.
One eats grain and struts with flair,
Another naps without a care.
The third just crows and steals the feed,
The fourth lays plans no one can read.
Thirteen yard fowls, feathered, loud,
Scratching dirt, deceiving crowd.
Once they fed us, once they served,
Now it’s only mess preserved.
So when the farmer calls roll-call,
It’s time to clean the chicken hall.
Trim the flock, restore the yard,
Make room for fowls that work, not guard.
Mess with the 1st animals on the land !
God mess with you in due season!
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On top of their omnipresence, they have no manners. Just barging all thru. No exuse me Sir/Mam. They are not like yard folks like long ago that went into the yard and went looking for sometime to eat.
No, these are very lazy fowls looking for free food. No one once of excuse me comes from their beeks.They just barge on thru. Mother hens raising their baby hens to be just like them begging for food. They need to be rounded up and placed on a farm somewhere where they can either be raised for meat or chicken.
i..m always wandering