How do you solve a problem like a cockerel?

That’s the question commissioners in the north have been tussling with recently, as they try to deal with a colony of abandoned cockerels in Sulby Valley.

Residents in Tholt-y-Will are being awoken in the mornings by around thirty roosters as the area has become a dumping ground for cockerels which are surplus to requirements.

Whilst some may argue that setting the birds free when they are unruly is the logical and humane solution, rather than opting for the gory job of ‘dispatching’ them, experts are arguing this is actually the wrong approach as they will damage the eco-system they are dumped into.

Laura McCoy from Manx National Heritage said: ‘Chickens are omnivorous and they are also veracious, so they will eat anything that they can swallow, and people will be surprised at the size of things that they can swallow.

‘Things like frogs, lizards - things that are protected here - they will quite happily munch on, no problem, as well as invertebrates and peck at vegetation et cetera.

‘I think because they’re so ubiquitous in our farm life and our day to day lives and many people eat chicken and eggs, that they don’t realise that putting them in the wrong place can actually be very devastating, so they really shouldn’t.’

Graham Makepeace-Warne from the Manx Wildlife Trust added: ‘There’s a welfare issue as well.

‘So we actually rescued our cockerel from the MSPCA, it was one that had been dumped and they rescued and we took it on from there.

‘It’s clearly people who are letting their eggs hatch and then they aren’t prepared to dispatch them and instead release them into the wild thinking that’s the kinder thing to do.

‘But it’s not because of all males living together, they’re going to fight, they’re going to struggle for food, they’re going to have all the problems that they wouldn’t have in a nice farm environment where they should be.

‘So if people are doing it for welfare reasons then they need to think again.’

Vivien Quane, chair of Lezayre Commissioners explained that the practice of abandoning the domesticated animals in the wild is causing real problems for a community.

She said the landowner in the area is looking at submitting plans to build a wall to prevent people from dumping birds or food for those that have already been dumped.

Mrs Quane said: ‘The food is the problem because it’s bringing the vermin round.

‘The notices are all on order to tell people not to leave poultry and not to leave food for them.

‘That is all we can do at the moment, and we will wait and see the results of that.’

Mrs Quane also confirmed that the commissioners are looking into passing laws to make the practices illegal offences.

This week’s ManxSPCA column on page 8 further discusses cockerels and hens.