Are there too many chickens coming home to roost in your back yard?

Andrea Cantave: “They are  all just so confused.”	Christina Holmes has  noticed the chickens have multiplied in two years	Keith Tibbetts III does not like to see chickens near restaurants
Parker Tibbetts: “It is a  problem and it is annoying”	Orlando Henriques: “I think chickens are a good thing.”	Dwight Guthrie does not  see too many chickens  here.

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Visitors to the Cayman Islands may think it a charming feature to see chickens and cockerels in the street. However, there are some who think that their presence is nothing but a nuisance.

Some residents complain that the cockerels keep them awake at night. Andrea Cantave said: "They crow so much at ungodly hours, because of electricity they are confused, and crow all day and night."

Christina Holmes commented: "There are a lot more than there were two years ago. I don't mind seeing the odd one, but they do make a lot of noise."

A local attorney had this to say: "If you are on the telephone to an important client in New York, it really does not sound professional to have crowing in the background. It gives the country a poor image, some would even say that it gives us the image of a voodoo nation."

Some of the chickens are scrawny and unsightly to see, especially when the many stray dogs on the island have been chasing them. Keith Tibbetts III said: "I don't like to see them near the restaurants. It doesn't look good. It makes you wonder where they got the chicken on the menu."

Keith's father, Parker Tibbetts remarked: "It is a problem. I have wild chickens coming into my yard. I know they have a problem in Governor's Harbour, too. It is annoying."

Orlando Henriques has noticed a large number of chickens on the island, however, they do not bother him. "It's something different from what you see in the States or in England. I think it's a good thing. The other day I saw a hen and six chicks on the waterfront in George Town, and everyone was taking photos."

Keay Slack, who has been on the island for 40 years, says that there have always been many chickens on the island. "It doesn't bother me. I think it's delightful to hear a cockerel crowing. But I expect there are places where they are a nuisance."

Dwight Guthrie, has not noticed an increase in the fowl: "I'm from Jamaica, where there are a lot of chickens. I don't see too many here."

For those who think that there are too many chickens on the Island, there is an added threat: With the situation in Thailand having been in the news recently, they may now worry about the danger of a national epidemic of bird flu.

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