Key West, Florida — In quirky Key West, Florida, it’s not just tourists flocking to town, feral chickens have found their tropical paradise.
And Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez has got a beef. They’re “everywhere,” he says, with entire chicken families often seen crossing roads.
A resolution introduced by Lopez, which is now law, bans feeding chickens on public property.
“What I am looking to do is to try and address the health issues of humans, as well as the chickens,” Lopez said.
The chickens can cause property damage and their droppings can spread disease. The chickens are sometimes run over by cars, and chicks can fall into storm drains. Then there are the roosters, which crow at all hours.
While rescued chickens are sent to farms in mainland Florida, it’s impossible to catch them all.
But how did it get like this?
‘It’s the oldest image we have of chickens in Key West,” said Corey Malcolm, lead historian for the Florida Keys History Center, explaining that it’s a tale of tail feathers.
“Chickens were very much a part of early Key West,” Malcolm said.
They were brought in the 1820s by the first settlers, who according to Malcom “would sell them by the dozen to the residents here.” Then in the 1860s came a Cuban migration.
“One of the traditions that came from Cuba was cockfighting,” Malcolm said. “…The tradition of raising chickens carries on from the early 1900s into around World War II.”
By then, the ease of getting eggs and meat from supermarkets meant homeowners let their chickens loose in a two-by-four mile island with no natural predators.
In 1986, Florida banned cockfighting and roosters were set free. Then in 1998, Hurricane George spread them all throughout the island, and they have been multiplying ever since.
Mitigation has failed, and a city-employed chicken catcher in the 2000s quit after swift backlash from chicken enthusiasts.
Now, the chickens are as much a tourist attraction as the Southernmost Point Buoy. They’re also a popular sight in souvenir shops.
“They’re everywhere, yes, that’s good for me,” said Arthur Bakala, who owns three chicken-themed shops in Key West.
At his chicken-themed wine and coffee bar, there are statues, paintings, t-shirts, mugs and everything in between, all part of the island’s chicken culture.
In Key West, it’s the chickens’ world, and we’re just living in it.
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