New Orleans feral chicken population booms

NEW ORLEANS, April 13 (UPI) -- Residents of New Orleans say the city's population of wild chickens has boomed in the years since Hurricane Katrina.

The residents said the chickens are believed to be descended from ones that escaped from backyard coops during and after the 2005 storm, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Tuesday.

Katherine LeBlanc, spokeswoman for the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said officers are dispatched on a weekly basis to catch the feral chickens in the city's neighborhoods.

LeBlanc said most of the calls from residents are about the noise made by the birds, and there have been few complaints about attacks or the birds' droppings.

The spokeswoman said the feral chickens are left with a farmer known as the "Chicken Man." She said capturing the birds is "extremely hard" and usually requires multiple officers.