From raising to eat & for eggs
Many local residents, as well as those from other parts of the Caribbean living in the VI, also raised them for their eggs, which sometimes were shipped to St Thomas in the United States Virgin Isl...
Many local residents, as well as those from other parts of the Caribbean living in the VI, also raised them for their eggs, which sometimes were 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 percent of everything we eat being imported, including eggs and chickens, the value of the yard chicken has decreased. 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 pick a fowl before it’s cooked.
While the territory has about six poultry farmers who raise chickens in a controlled environment and provide eggs to local supermarkets and restaurants, along with some resorts, growing their own chickens and eggs for restaurants and in-house consumption on a commercial scale 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. "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. This online news site is the sole property of and is operated by Advance Marketing and Professional Services dba Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) in the Virgin Islands. The content, which includes all articles, photographs, advertisements, bloggs and graphic images, are copyrighted by Virgin Islands News Online and/or the original copyright holder.
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Primary source: VINO