Utrecht fighting cocks have to leave city park | Inland

In recent years, so many roosters have been dumped in the park that, according to the municipality, they are now in the vast majority. And the chicken population seems to be growing all the time, writes alderman Lot van Hooijdonk to the Utrecht city council, because eggs and chicks are regularly found in the park and around it.

In addition to the aggressive roosters and the nuisance in the neighbourhood, it is also a problem that the animals are fed a lot of bread, says Van Hooijdonk. The bread is too salty for the chickens and also causes new problems with rats and geese.

bird flu

About 150 chickens, mainly roosters, will be caught on Friday and taken to a shelter in Dalen (Drenthe). “The chickens there get healthy food and a better life than in the park and/or on the street,” says Van Hooijdonk. “From a road safety point of view, we will catch the chickens that move from the park to the streets of Zuilen and vice versa.”

About forty hens are allowed to stay behind in the Juliana Park. Eggs are also collected, unless they are incubated. The company that will carry out the catching job, Hofganzen, has been selected in consultation with the Dierenbescherming.

Animal organizations called on the municipality earlier this year to catch the stray animals and bring them to a shelter. Local residents are quite annoyed by the crowing of the roosters in particular. According to the municipality, it was previously not possible to transfer the animals due to the transport ban that was imposed because of the bird flu. According to Van Hooijdonk, there are also few shelter locations for roosters.

—