living near chicken houses

[farmerpsv]

Howdy,
I recently moved from the sticks (the name of my farm was "the middle of nowhere"), to a bit busier area. the land is very nice, but there is a very busy road out front that me and my wife can't get used to. land is very expensive where i'm at and hard to find. i found a piece that is very beautiful and fits all our needs, about 65 acres, however there are 9 chicken houses at various places within about a mile of the land. i am concerned that come summer the smell and flies would be an issue. i'm not so concerned about farm smells, we had cows before, but the way they pack the chickens into those massive chicken houses might create unusual results. any experience would be helpful, i'd be building a house to sink some roots and want it in the right place. should i be concerned about this?
thanks,
paul

 

[Dozernut]

We have a turkey farm to the north of us. Usually the wind in the warmer months is out of the west or south so we have no odor most of the time. When the wind shifts and comes from the north it can get rank. In the winter, when the wind is out of the north, we have our windows shut so it is not a problem.
I would rather not have a turkey farm near (we were here first), but that is the price you pay for living in the country. My wife and I were raised on farms so we understand about odors. If you have allergies, then I would recommend you not purchase the property. This will aggravate any existing conditions you might have.
A lot depends on how they manage their dead pits, in regards to the flies. Also how they deal with the manure will be a factor. Look them over to see how they handle these problems.

 

[JerryG]

farmerpsv,
All the houses that have been built in the last five years or so in my area are very neighbor friendly. I have 4 chicken houses with approx. 90,000 birds with neighbors with in a quarter of a mile and have never had any complaints. I would know If they had any problems because I talk to them all of the time. They say that the only way that they know that I have chickens is that they see the trucks and can hear the fans go on and off. There is no, let me say that again no flies. If the farmer follow best management practices there will never be any flies. The only time that there would be any how would be if the didn't follow the BMP as pertaining to composting. As far as smell, there will be none if a small buffer is maintained of a few hundred feet. As far as spreading of litter and odor, the litter is only spread a day or two a year and the smell usually only persists for a day or two. All the above pertains to cool cell and tunnel construction houses.

 

[farmerpsv]

Dozer and Jerry,
thanks for the input. Jerry, the houses seem to be neat and well kept, modern. there are a few nice and seemingly fairly new homes in the area as well, and some not so nice. one is for rent and very near 4 chicken houses, but there is a newer house set back on that property. probably built a new place and are renting the older one out. i'm kinda lusting after this land as it reminds me of what i left.
paul

 

[BubbaJr]

We have several mega-farm chicken outfits within 2 miles of us, but I haven't noticed any chicken type smells. I worked for a hatchery when I was a kid, so I am still sensitive to the chicken odors. But we have a small hog operation about a 1/2 mile to the south of us, and it will make your eyes burn when the wind is right. The worst part is that he spreads the piggy by-products on his fields and he always manages to make a mess on the road. Then when the wife or I drive through it and park in the garage, it smells like we are raising hogs too. As for flies, we have them by the bazillions, but I don't know whether they are originating from the chicken or hog farms or some other source. But even with these minor aggrevations, we still love it here. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[40Kchicks]

Paul,
I really have to agree with Jerry about the chicken houses. Some farmers use proper composting and litter management and others don’t. Most likely a modern facility will do the right things and there won’t be anything to be concerned with. You may want to ask some neighbors in the area if they have any complaints. I have two barns and raise 40 thousand chickens. My neighbor raises 110 thousand. My house is about 400’ up the hill from the barns. I usually don’t notice any odors at the house unless we are spreading on the fields. Like Jerry said that is only a couple days a year. I would doubt you would ever have any problems being a mile away. Also they might be a great, cheap source of field fertilizer. That manure is amazing on the fields.

Eric

 

[farmerpsv]

thanks Bubba and Eric,
this is encouraging. Dozer, I lived near a turkey farm as a kid and recall the birds were kept outside, is this your situation? I would imagine that would make a difference. Eric, i do organic market growing, the manure would be a plus. you only spread it a couple times a year? that would make sense as the nitrogen would be to much spread more often. my understanding is that you generally turn your flock every 40 days or so, do you clean the manure out each time? what do you do with it? also, what do you do with the dead birds? i talked to a guy with 2 houses and he usually only had a couple of dead birds per cycle, he fed them to his hogs...hmm, guess that's better than cambells /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. those of you who have the chicken houses, do you live on the property? thanks again for all the info.
paul

 

[Dozernut]

This farm is a very large operation that has been in place for about 20 years. The birds are raised in containment barns and never see the outside. There are three large buildings, all connected by closed runways.
They start the young turkeys in barn #1. When they reach a certain age they are driven to building #2. While the turkeys are in #2, they start cleanup of #1. When the turkeys reach another growth goal they are driven to #3. After another period, they market the turkeys in #3. Building #1 then gets new young turkeys. The cycle is then repeated.
With the thousands of turkeys that they raise, there are some deaths in the flock. This is why they need the dead pits or to be politically correct, compost bins. There are about 5 or 6 of these large farms in a 25 mile radius and they all smell the same.

 

[cowboydoc]

It will probably smell bad at times. If you don't think it's something you can live with don't even bother buying the place. The chicken farmer was there first and it is the country.

 

[BillyP]

I have 4 poultry houses, about 700' from my house. Either I'm used to it or they don't smell that bad.

Year before last, they built a new Post Office about a 1/4 of a mile from the poultry houses. So I guess they don't smell too bad.

All of my dead birds are put into freezers and picked up at the end of the grow-out.

When you get ready to build your house on this 65 acres, situate the house so no one can build too close.