Having determined that the feral chicken population in the city
has become a nuisance, the city of San Juan Bautista this week
contracted with J
&
amp; D Critter Round Up to remove up to 100 fowl from the
streets of the Mission City for $500.
Having determined that the feral chicken population in the city has become a nuisance, the city of San Juan Bautista this week contracted with J & D Critter Round Up to remove up to 100 fowl from the streets of the Mission City for $500.
“Personally, I have no problem with the chickens in the state park or the downtown area,” said Vice Mayor Jolene Cosio. “They don’t seem to congregate in those areas and create a problem. Where they’re creating a problem is in the residential areas. The people who live here have a right to not have chickens congregate in their yard.”
Feral chickens, primarily roosters, “are becoming a public nuisance due to noise and fecal deposits,” the city noted in its “agreement for chicken pick up services” with the Paicines-based critter round-up business. The contract calls for the company to remove no more than 100 chickens from the city and “make reasonable efforts to place the removed chickens into a suitable environment.”
“He’s supposed to try to find homes for them,” said Cosio. “We’ll assist him with any information we have about ranches willing to take them.”
Asked what will happen if homes aren’t found for the formerly feral fowl, Cosio said, “the same thing that happens when you turn your pet into the animal shelter. I don’t think he’s going to keep them.”
Mayor Andy Moore said he has been in touch with people who are interested in adopting some of the birds, though he acknowledged “there’s no guarantee that we’ll find homes for all of them.”
J & D Critter Round Up will provide holding cages for the birds to be kept in the city’s corporation yard for no more than 24 hours.
The goal of the chicken removal plan is to focus on residential areas and private property, not the Mission Plaza or downtown business district, Moore said.
The street chicken roundup is expected to begin around July 1.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
