The state Legislature once again will consider bills to tackle a feral chicken problem that continues to generate complaints while some people continue to feed them.

Peter Miller, a 23-year-old University of Hawaii student, said the feral chicken problem has “gotten out of hand.”

“Not only do they add so much noise pollution, they also destroy all the landscaping,” Miller said.

Before he moved out of Manoa, Miller said chickens would rip all the plants to nest in and scratch through grass, leaving only dirt around his home.

“The state has introduced bills to take care of this issue,” Miller said, “but I’ve seen no progress.”

Miller suggested the state establish a hotline like a “pest control for chickens” for residents to report large numbers of fowl on or near their property, especially if chickens are a nuisance.

House Bill 227 and Senate Bill 961 both rolled over from the 2023 legislative session to establish chicken complaint hotlines, like Miller wants.

State Rep. Scott Nishimoto (D, Moiliili-­McCully) also will carry his 2023 HB 1140 into the upcoming legislative session, which also would require the state Department of Health to operate a feral chicken complaint hotline in addition to setting up more chicken traps.

He said HB 1140 grew out of community complaints.

“We get so many complaints about it that I actually custom-ordered a chicken trap to loan out to constituents,” Nishimoto said.

He said the trap took about two or three weeks to arrive from the mainland and cost him about $300.

Beginning in September, the city contracted with Sandwich Isle Pest Solutions to offer feral chicken cage and removal services to private-property owners at a reduced cost.

Harold Scholes, a pest control consultant at Sandwich Isles Pest Solutions, said that since the contract, the company has received about “three to four dozen complaints.”

While the city subsidizes Sandwich Isles Pest Solutions’ services, there’s still a cost that people who complain about chickens must pay to manage chickens, which may be unappealing.

To rent a Tomahawk Chicken Trap that can cage four to five chickens for a week, landowners would have to pay $50 after the city’s $25 subsidy. For a full service including a technician coming out for a week to trap chickens, landowners must pay $375 after the city’s $100 subsidy.

The city also has installed signs at some city parks to discourage feeding wild chickens.

HB 72 would go further and impose a $500 fine on people who feed or attempt to feed feral chickens.

Neither the state Department of Land and Natural Resources nor the nonprofit Hawaiian Humane Society plays any role in feral chicken management, said representatives for both organizations.

HB 576, introduced by state Rep. Jenna Takenouchi (D, Pacific Heights-­Nuuanu-Liliha), would require DLNR, the state Department of Agriculture and counties to collaborate on feral chicken management.

Takenouchi’s bill also would authorize slaughtering, processing and inspections before chickens are killed to feed homeless or low-income people.