Concerns over growing flock of wild hens on outskirts of village

Growing groups of hens have been sighted at Glen Roy and the Dhoon

Village residents have been warned by a local authority not to abandon hens in the surrounding area after reports of an increase in poultry roaming wild.

Garff Commissioners has stressed it is a criminal offence to leave the birds and has called for people in Laxey to stop feeding them.

Commissioner Mel Christian said "two or three" birds had turned into a flock of more than 20 in recent years.

She said it was now "beginning to become a bit of a problem."

An increase in sightings of wild poultry in the areas of Glen Roy on the outskirts of Laxey and the Dhoon Glen car park have been reported to the local authority in the last year.

'Problems'

At a meeting this week Garff Commissioners resolved to highlight the growing problem, which a spokesman said could pose a risk to traffic and encourage vermin in the area.

He said the authority was limited in what it could do to tackle the problem as the birds were often on government land.

The authority had "no idea" who was abandoning the animals, he said.

Ms Christian, who is a poultry keeper, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she thought it was "people who own chickens and are having chicks".

"Cockerels obviously can create problems and can fight amongst themselves," she said.

The commissioner said she wanted to stress to villagers that abandoning the birds was a criminal offence.

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