‘Wild animals decimate our crops’

Farmers have thrown their full support behind the chicken cull and urged Conservation Services to ‘keep up the good work’.

They told the Bermuda Sun that the feral pests cost the industry tens of thousands of dollars in lost crops and threatened their livelihood.

Some of the biggest businesses revealed that banana, strawberry, broccoli and cauliflower fields had been decimated in a matter of days due to the invasion of wild chickens.

Junior Hill said: “This is something that affects everyone from farmers to tourists to people just trying to sleep at night.

“Feral chickens are a huge problem and they are killing our industry.

“We have lost banana crops and vegetable harvests because of these animals.

“And it’s not just chickens – it’s starlings, kiskadees, pigeons and crows too - they are a menace to Bermuda.

“We support and appreciate Conservation Services’ work and we need this chicken cull to continue to give us a chance.”

While dairy farmer, Harry Kramer, added: “We have thousands of these chickens out at Outerlea Dairy and they are eating all the feed.

“Their faeces are all over the place and they are a huge nuisance.

“Over the years it has just got worse and worse and we are pleased that finally something is being done to address this problem.”

The chicken cull has prompted discontent from some quarters with the SPCA calling on Conservation Services to review its policy.

The charity fears that the chemicals used to sedate the chickens are also affecting other wild animals.

But the farmers insist they are starting to see ‘real results’ due to the island-wide culling operation.

Farmer Carlos Amaral told the Bermuda Sun: “The industry loses tens of thousands of dollars worth of fruit and vegetables every year due to feral chickens and we just can not afford it.

“We have tried trapping but it just does not have enough of an effect on chicken numbers.

“This latest cull is really beginning to have an effect on numbers in areas that have been blighted by feral chickens and we need it to continue in order to secure our livelihoods.”

More than 7,200 feral chickens have been culled across the island as part of the cull and Conservation Services has received more than 100 requests for help from homeowners, schools, charities and farmers.

Farmer Manuel De Silva said: “I have lost 40 per cent of my tomato crop in one field because of these animals and our banana crop has been decimated in some areas.

“They have a devastating consequence on our work in just a matter of days and this obviously has a huge effect on what we can produce for the island.

“We have actually started picking produce earlier so that the chickens do not have a chance to destroy the crops.”

While farmer Tom Wadson added: “This problem is seriously out of control and we are all fully supportive of the cull.

“It has to be done in order to preserve farmers’ livelihood.

“It’s hard enough being a farmer at the moment – but when you lose a crop to chickens in just a matter of hours it makes you wonder why you bother working every day.”