Oviedo residents cry 'fowl' over migrating downtown chickens

OVIEDO, Fla. — The wild chickens famous for roaming the streets of downtown Oviedo are now causing problems for residents who live in a nearby neighborhood.

Channel 9 found the chickens are starting to branch out in search of food, and some have moved into a neighborhood about a mile away from downtown, but residents there aren't happy about it.

There are about 100 homes in the area, and residents said the friendly fowl are ruining yards and leaving big messes behind.

Neighbors told Channel 9's Bianca Castro one man managed to trap five chickens to take them back downtown, but by the time he woke up the next morning, the same chickens were back in the neighborhood.

"As the downtown grows a little bit, certainly, they probably moved to places they're a little more comfortable at," said Fire Chief Lars White.

Downtown merchants aren't feeding the birds like they used to, but officials said that's no reason to think they're not welcome.

"From the city's perspective, there have been far more people interested in keeping them than there are those in eradicating them," said White.

The city says while they'll take in complaints, there are no plans to evict the chickens.

WFTV