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UOG Horizons: Knowledge for life - From pests to partners: Navigating backyard gardening with feral chickens
UOG Horizons: Knowledge for life - From pests to partners: Navigating backyard gardening with feral chickens
UOG Horizons: Knowledge for life - From pests to partners: Navigating backyard gardening with feral chickens
3/21/2025
For decades in Guam, my wife and I have turned our yards into agroforest gardens. It is amazing how productive a small yard can be in our tropical climate. Backyard gardening is not only an enjoyable physical activity and means of stress relief, but it also provides enormous savings to your food bill. But it does come with challenges. Perhaps the top challenge to urban farming in Guam is what I like to refer to as NFCs, or Nasty Feral Chickens.
Here in Mangilao, chickens are everywhere. No matter what gardening method you use, you will have to develop ongoing strategies to deal with these pernicious pests. Even if you get rid of what appeared to be the flock invading your yard, more chickens will appear from the surrounding areas. This is compounded further if your yard is the only one in the neighborhood with a lot of trees, where chickens like to roost. They will happily peck at your papayas and bananas as they ripen on the tree, steal your figs before you even realize they are ripe, and scratch up your newly planted vegetables, herbs, or fruits. They will even steal the food you set out for your pets.
Gardening with feral chickens around is a challenge, but it can be done. Our agriculture extension agents at UOG recommend a few key defensive, as well as offensive, strategies.