Sunday, November 21, 2010

Chicken manure .......

Not far from my house is a farm that raises chickens for Tyson. Big trucks carrying food, etc. are constantly turning the corner in front of my house. Then every so often they transport chickens out, and these huge trucks piled high with crates stuffed full of chickens goes by. I can't stand to watch those trucks because I feel so sorry for the poor chickens. In hot weather, it looks like at least half of them are already dead by the time they get to my house. Just looking at those trucks will make you think twice before buying Tyson chicken at the grocery.

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About four weeks ago my neighbor who owns the field right in front of my house decided to fertilize his fields using manure from the chicken houses. If you've never had the misfortune to smell chicken manure in large quantities, let me assure you that it is not a pleasant odor. The manure they spread was very, very dry and must have been powder-like in consistency. There were large clouds of manure coming out of the back of the truck spreading it. Some of these clouds headed directly toward my house. I immediately made sure all windows were tightly closed on the house and on the vehicles. I watched as a fine dust of manure mixed with feathers settled on everything outside.

Luckily, the wind shifted after awhile and blew the clouds in the other direction. It was a bit smelly outside for a few days, but after we had a rain the odor was gone. Just one of the joys of living in the country.

9 comments:

Linda said...

Oh that's awful. I used to read the blog of a woman who worked at a Tyson Chicken plant in Arkansas. She and all her family worked there. She was retired but had night terrors about having to go back to work there. Apparently it was awful.

Becky Mushko said...

The field across the road from my house is fertilized a few times a year with cow manure from a nearby dairy. It actually doesn't smell too bad, and the wind generally doesn't blow from that direction.

The worst thing is when they spray that field with the herbicide RoundUp. I try to stay inside on those days.

Michelle said...

I know that is an awful smell. Glad the wind changed direction. I would not like having the chicken farm close to me either.

Pat said...

When my girls were young, we were driving to Ocean City, MD and passed a field that was being fertilized with chicken manure. They were screaming about the stench for the next 2 miles...

Arkansas Patti said...

That would probably cure me of any cravings for wings. We forget when they come wrapped in nice neat packages, that they once suffered almost every day of their lives. Surely we can do better.
I have smelled that manure (yuck). They used it a lot in Florida. Always glad I didn't live near by.

Anonymous said...

So far I have not had the pleasure to small chicken manure in large quantities and I hope I never do!
:-)

I hope you have a great week

~Ron

NitWit1 said...

My one experience was enough. At some point Tyson experimenting with "sanitizing" the manure, granulating it with nutrients, and feeding it back to the turkeys and chickens. I cannot imagine working in such a place, nor a slaughter house for any animal.

CountryDew said...

I hate when they spread manure of any kind. I am sorry you had to endure that.

KathyA said...

Chicken manure and paper mills -- the smell is equally noxious! So sorry.