Mr Noel Tan, who runs a chicken rehoming group on Facebook, said that much of what is fed to wild chickens is “junk food” and not ideal for their nutrition. As with any wild animal, feeding should be discouraged, he said.
“Nutritionally speaking, it’s not very good for them – it’s like say, bread, right? It can be hard to digest for them. Indigestion can cause them to die,” said Mr Tan.
“A chicken can produce eggs every day, which are high in protein. Where are they going to get the protein from if their diet has only carbohydrates? So nutritional needs are very important, especially for chickens because they produce eggs regularly.”
NParks advises members of the public not to feed wild chickens as it leads to overpopulation.
“The feeding of all animals, including chickens, is prohibited in NParks-managed green spaces. Free-ranging chickens are capable of sourcing food in their habitat and do not require food from humans to survive,” Ms Kwok added.
“Leftover food from feeding may attract other pests, like rats, that carry diseases and pose a risk to public health. The public can help to mitigate population growth and congregation issues by not feeding the birds and disposing of food scraps properly.”
Mr Chong said people continue to feed the wild chickens in Sin Ming. This has altered the birds’ behaviour, he added.
“One of the big problems is that … a lot of residents actually do throw food down, so the chickens’ behaviours are altered. Because they will come and ‘stand by’ in the evening and wait for the aunties and uncles to come,” he said.
THE GROWTH OF A HOBBY
Apart from wild chickens, interest in keeping ornamental chickens has risen in the past few years, said Mr Tan, who also runs Clucking Good, a website where owners can purchase feed, vitamins and supplements for their pets.
Based on NParks’ guidelines, no more than 10 poultry, including chickens, are allowed to be kept on any premises. Owners are also subjected to the rules of the managing body of the premises, which may or may not allow them to keep chickens within their areas.
HDB has previously stated that keeping chickens in flats is not allowed.
“The number of people keeping (these pets) grew easily five or 10 times since I started keeping (them). So definitely, people are more aware of chickens as pets … You see celebrities keeping them as well,” said Mr Tan.