The Feral Roosters of Kauai

Each morning as the sun rose, the feral roosters encouraged us to get out of bed. It didn’t bother me too much, since I was still on Pacific Coast Time and wanted to get out of bed anyway. For those folks who may have wanted to catch a few more winks, I said, “Good Luck!” The crowing roosters numbered in the dozens. Everywhere we looked, there were chickens! We saw big fighting cocks, hens with babies, and even chickens sitting in a chair next to us at the outdoor grill! There were battalions of chickens marching around our table as we ate. A big chicken pecked at a little chicken who cocked to close to a table, and feathers flew up in the air in cackled panic. Some of the chickens were beautiful bantams, some were Bantams mixed with white chickens, the outcome of which was an odd-looking gray chicken with gold specks! There were chickens of all sizes squished in the streets, inconvenient road kill.

Don left to retrieve something from our condominium. I wasn’t alert as the big bantam jumped up on the little table between our beach chairs, and grabbed the pineapple right out of Don’s Chichi! He leaped off the table and took cover with his bounty under the bushes. Dozens of other chickens fought him for his prize, and they exchanged the piece of pineapple from beak to beak, much like a pineapple relay!

I don’t remember all these chickens from our earlier visits to Kauai, and there’s a good reason why. Hurricane Iniki blew in with a fury in 1992. The force of the wind released many of the fighting cocks and other chickens, and they went forth and multiplied. The variety of chickens is interesting to see, but they are truly a nuisance to the locals as they cackle and hackle all day long.

Someone came up with a recipe for the chickens. The recipe directs the chef to slow cook the chicken with spices and a rock. When the dish has cooked completely, you throw away the chicken and eat the rock! Free-range fighting cocks are tough!