{"id":7802,"date":"2019-07-28T04:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=7802"},"modified":"2019-07-26T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T22:01:54","slug":"the-chickens-of-kauai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/travel\/the-chickens-of-kauai\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chickens of Kauai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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If you’ve ever been to Kauai, you know about the chickens. They were a surprise to me, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first chicken I saw was just outside our condo. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I’d been places where the occasional chicken was allowed to run free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not the occasional chicken, though. They were everywhere on Kauai. In the parking lots …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the grass with their chicks …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At this rest stop above Opaekaa Falls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The roosters crowed off and on all day long–a shorter crow that was more cock-a-doo-doo than cock-a-doodle-do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I wondered, what’s the story behind all these wild chickens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists say<\/a> most of them are related to red junglefowl from SE Asia that were domesticated about 7000 years ago and brought to Hawaii by Polynesians between 300 and 800 years ago.<\/a> Then there were the European varieties that were brought in after Captain Cook’s 1778 voyage to Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During two big hurricanes, Iwa in 1982 and Iniki in 1992, many of the chickens escaped. Most of them never went back to living in coops. And since Kauai has no wild mammals beside bats, the feral chickens flourished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our guide at Allerton Gardens pointed out that the chickens provide a service by eating venomous centipedes. You could eat the chickens, she conceded, but it would probably be better to feed them chicken feed for a couple of weeks first. She smiled and pointed out that it’s easier just to buy your poultry at Costco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When these mangoes ripen and fall, if you don’t get there first, the chickens will eat them. They won’t fight you for them, though<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part the feral chickens were well behaved. There was one exception. I’m talking to you, rooster who jumped on our picnic table at Lydgate State Park.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lydgate State Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’ve ever been to Kauai, you know about the chickens. They were a surprise to me, though. The first chicken I saw was just outside our condo. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I’d been places where the occasional chicken was allowed to run free. This was not the occasional chicken, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1886,253,1659],"tags":[1901,1887,1902],"class_list":["post-7802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hawaii","category-travel","category-vacations","tag-chickens-on-kauai","tag-kauai","tag-red-junglefowl"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-21Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7784,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/not-writing-in-kauai\/","url_meta":{"origin":7802,"position":0},"title":"Not Writing in Kauai","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I took time off from writing (and other things) to vacation with my family in Hawaii. 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I knew her writing too.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blogging"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_1765-e1564874817432.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10331,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/seasons\/the-last-days-of-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":7802,"position":3},"title":"The Last Days of Summer","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Wilting roses along Sunset Avenue My begonias, pansies, and geraniums are still blooming, but tomorrow is the first day of fall, and the leaves are starting to turn. I guess it\u2019s time to buy some chrysanthemums. 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