A frustrated farmer is at the end of his rope after enduring thousands of dollars of damage to his broccoli and cauliflower patch caused by wild chickens.

And Roger Pacheco said he will be forced to take matters into his own hands to destroy the feral chickens if he does not get help from local animal agencies.

Mr. Pacheco, who owns a five-acre farm in St. David's, is one of several farmers who is trying to combat out-of-control wild populations of chickens that are wreaking havoc on farms across the Island.

"I don't think you can find a plant in the farm that hasn't been eaten," Mr. Pacheco said. "There are 18,000 broccoli plants that have been planted. People just have no idea the thousands of hours of damage being lost. I have estimated that I have lost about $5,000."

Mr. Pacheco said the main damage comes before the plant has had a chance to flower.

He said the menacing fowl eat the main buds of the vegetables, stunting and preventing them from growing.

And he said stepped-up measures need to be taken to eliminate the chickens before he suffered more damage to his livelihood.

"Just before Christmas, I tried cages, but they didn't do a damn thing," he said. "I have over five acres of property and nothing seems to work - the chickens just fly right over the fence. Something needs to be done - if they have licensed people who can shoot them or poison them, that would help."

And owner and supplier of animal feed store Chickens Plus, David Burrows, agreed that there was a local chicken problem that was getting out of control.

Mr. Burrows said he had tried to assist several farmers by setting traps to capture the birds, but had met with sabotage from local animal rights activists.

"It's only so much that you can do," he said. "I have started from one end of the Island and worked my way across, trying to eliminate chickens from certain areas. But I have had some of my traps mashed up - and they cost $300 to $400 each."

Mr. Burrows said he blamed people who kept the chickens as pets, but let them lose after their breeding had gone out of control.

And he sent out a plea to residents that if they wanted to get rid of their chickens not to set them lose in the wild because the potential damage they inflicted could be costly.

Meanwhile, agricultural officer Tommy Sinclair said he was actively looking into the situation, but said the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries was not equipped with a poison to eradicate feral chicken populations.

He said there was a risk that if a poison was used, it could potentially kill off sparrows, starlings or cardinals.

"I don't know where they are coming from," he said. "We at the Department feel for the farmers - but right now there is nothing we can use to kill chickens and we do not advocate the poisoning of them.

"They seem to be increasing and we are getting quite a few complaints. But, whoever the owners are, they should be aware that it is an offence for them to let these chickens roam."