Getting off the plane at the Lihue Airport in Kauai was pretty uneventful but we quickly discovered something about the island that was a bit unexpected.

Chickens are everywhere. Seriously – they are everywhere. There was not a place that we visited on the island that we did not see chickens roaming around freely.

Of course we had to check it out. And I also had to stop taking pictures of chickens because it was getting a little bit ridiculous. There are a couple of theories as to why there are so many chickens. One school of thought places the burden on the Polynesians who came and brought chickens with them. Another more likely reason is that when Hurricane Iniki came in 1992 many of the chicken coops on the island were demolished and the chickens were released into the wild as a result. As we know with any animal they are going to reproduce and that is what happened.

There are basically no natural predators so they continue to multiply. Locals share that they are fairly unappetizing to eat so of course they just keep multiplying. The joke is that if you boil a Kauai wild chicken and a lava rock together, the lava rock will be easier to chew.

While they were an oddity and something unexpected they did add to the charm of the island a little bit. However…that crowing. All the time. Everywhere. I wonder if you ever really get used to that. What do you think? Let me know in the comments section and remember to Comment for a Cause for our recipient for January – Project: Music Heals Us.