Myth # 2: Poultry farms smell. Ricky and Donna Bryant live on Ellis Hardy Road – next to four chicken houses that began operating last year. A year after four massive chicken houses were installed in their neighborhood, some property owners off Ellis Hardy Road wonder what happened to their right to a decent quality of life – and whether anyone will represent them as taxpayers. A deadly accident occurred in Sacramento on November 19 that involved a shooting and backed up traffic for a long distance. “It’s indescribable,” she said, referring to the stench. A reckless driver in Sacramento along State Route 51 southbound just north of the E Street exit on Nov 18 struck three other vehicles. As luck – or misfortunate – would have it, that night provided good conditions for the stench from an adjacent farm to flow. This video provides a look at the poultry industry in Virginia. Unlike other larger animals like cattle or sheep, chickens require less space to grow and are easier to look after. Imagine living your entire life in a basement. Wayne Frye doesn’t need to read environmental jargon from the EPA about pollutants that can float on to his property by air or flow into the ground by wastewater. Floating through the beam were particles from those chicken houses. Standing in his neighbor’s front yard, Ricky Bryant pierced the black night with a singular white beam that shot from his handheld light to the top of a tall tree standing many feet away, on the other side of the yard. In fact, just living near a turkey or chicken farm can have severe health effects, including greatly decreased lung function, because the … ... about with the problems with chicken houses. In many cases, these farms were built after the homes around them without giving notice to the residents of their hazards. Several specific diseases are associated with exposure to poultry bloom, including asthma and allergic alveolitis. A two-vehicle crash in Sacramento along eastbound I-80 on November 16 closed down traffic on an entrance ramp and injured one person. There is an elevated risk of a problem, however, for children exposed to the dust. More than 27 million broiler chickens were being produced in Surry, according to a 2012 census by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from 20 million in 2007. Next Sunday: Property owners fed up with the stench run into stone walls. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship. “However, we all could smell it lightly when we were down in one draw.” And conditions will likely worsen when summer arrives. A year after …, Wayne Frye, who has lived on Ellis Hardy Road in Surry County for many years, says the new stench from chicken houses next to his property "sm…, SHOALS – Weather conditions were not ideal on that chilly day last month for the unmistakable odor of chicken-farm operations to travel far, b…. “Odor, flies, darkling beetles – expectation that it will be far worse this summer: We never expected it to be as bad as it has been this winter and so watching the spring turn into summer will not be a welcome change,” he said. It was unlike the well-known odor of cow manure or fertilizer, a traditional farm odor that nobody at the meeting complained about. Poultry dust: This is the biggest of the dangers. A recent analysis of county and satellite data by the EWG found that roughly 160,000 North Carolinians live within a half-mile of a pig or poultry farm; in … A recent commentary in GeoHealth highlighted the health risks for people living close to large-scale livestock farms. “A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday, it was really pretty outside so I decided I’d go out in the yard and pick up dead limbs and stuff and throw them out and away. Neighborhood-: Nobody likes noise and strong offensive odors close to their homes. You try not to think about it during the day, but even a simple drive up the street is a reminder that these gigantic buildings are here to stay,” Terry Marshall said. These are pieces of organic material to which an entire segment of the population is actually hypersensitive. Because they speak against industrial-style chicken farms, some folks seem to assume that they oppose any type of agriculture. It looked as though someone had just aired out some musty quilts. This leaves many people exposed to similar damage as smokers because their lungs are too clogged with outside materials to expand normally. You may add a little chicken or two to your purchase to make sure that you get as many fowls as possible. They pay their taxes. They do, enthusiastically, but more notable than the amount is the coverage -- chickens can and will put their crap everywhere.They never go in the same spot twice. Recently, the stench from chicken farms got the attention of state park officials. By mid-afternoon, Ricky Bryant leaves his brick ranch house to work the second shift at a tobacco manufacturer as a mechanic fixing cigarette-packing machines. Like some of their neighbors, the Marshalls have lived here – and paid taxes here – for decades. You think about it when you wake up. ELDORA — It was sunny last week. The air is close, the darkness pervasive. Chronic airways obstructive disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS), and pigeon breeder’s disease are all associated with prolonged exposure to poultry dust. “You think about it when you go to bed. How effortlessly people comment, ‘Well, if you don't like it, just move.’ It’s not that easy after 30 years,” Mary Marshall said. They grapple with the thought that just about everything they have worked for so many years has been taken by a chicken factory. They feel as if they’ve been made the villain in their own community. Since the chicken houses began operating last year, they think about getting out, she said. If you or someone you know lives near a chicken or turkey farm and has experienced respiratory problems, seek experienced legal advice. The dust on poultry feathers is dangerous because it contains high concentrations of what scientists call particulate matter. If you’ve ever wondered what a factory farm chicken’s life looks like, it’s brutal. Moreover, they are less demanding in terms of food, so they will eat almost anything, including table … This fragility is why many people have asthma as a child, but “grow out of it” in adulthood. In a way, the Marshalls deal with the stench nonstop. Some property owners have converted their land into what many residents here describe as an industrial-style method of chicken farming – with chicken houses that cost more than $200,000 each capable of packing together as many as 25,000 chickens. As mentioned above, anyone who works on or lives near a chicken or turkey farm is at risk of developing respiratory problems due to exposure to the dust produced by these farms. This leaves harmful organisms in a child that can quickly become a serious medical condition. Therefore, when a child is exposed to the dust from a poultry farm, their lungs are especially incapable of dispelling the material. “Probably, warmer weather and wind from the right direction would have elevated the odor.”. “I never dreamed the smell could get inside my home.”. When pigeon antigens reach a human’s lungs, they may lodge there, producing a variety of reactions. So, too, will the dust around these farms, risking the lives of everyone around these farms. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, concentrated feeding operations similar to those next to the Bryants produce several pollutants. While this negligence is a  risk to you and your family’s life, it also may entitle you to damages for the traumatic injuries you have suffered. Other types of fowls, such as ducks, geese, turkeys, and pheasants, all do pretty well living near chickens as long as all roommates are non-aggressive by nature. A chicken house in Seagrove, N.C. North Carolina is one of the country's largest poultry producers. They have a right to do what they want with their land as long as it’s within the law,” Johnson said. But that’s not a real option. When accidents happen to the package or developmental and health problems, you won’t be in big trouble. I don't mean that they produce a lot of it. Adjacent to the same chicken farming operation, two other families – Terry and Mary Marshall, and Wayne and Angie Frye – also pay taxes to Surry County. 1. Local Garden and Farm Supply Stores. The ideal time to select chickens at your local garden and farm supply centers is during spring. They go beyond the traditional agricultural character of Surry, they say. then {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}} per month. What life is like living 1,200 feet from 500,000 chickens: The resurgence of poultry houses in Oklahoma ... to control chicken farm expansion near towns. And the smell wasn’t ‘that bad’ that day down there. If you or someone you love has suffered an agriculturally related injury, please call me at (209) 227-1931 or (800) 404-5400 for free and friendly advice.