Chicken coops do have a bad smell because chicken manure is high in ammonia. But most farmers are just used to the smell and are hardly bothered by it. But this is only the case with small-scale chicken farmers. When chickens are intensively farmed in factories, their waste and the smell that emanates is definitely a major problem.
If you are planning on opening a commercial chicken farm, you may be concerned about how far from the population you must have on your farm. Or, if you are planning on buying or renting property close to a commercial chicken farm, you may be concerned about how far the stench travels. How bad does a chicken farm smell? How far away can you smell a chicken farm?
How far away can you smell a chicken farm? Factors that affect how far the smell travels
How far away you can smell a chicken farm is dependent on many factors. Most importantly, the size of the chicken farm and the number of chickens they rear is a major factors in how bad the smell is and how far it travels. The higher the number of chickens, the higher the amount of chicken manure and the stronger the smell gets.
Another factor that affects how far you can smell the chicken farm is in which direction the wind blows. If the wind is blowing toward where you are, the stench can travel a long way, causing air pollution and making it difficult for neighbors to live peacefully. And yes, the odor of chicken manure can travel for many miles, as far as the wind blows in that specific direction.
Whether the chicken farm has any adequate windbreakers or not, the cleanliness of the farm, how often they clean up litter and how they dispose of the chicken manure are additional factors that affect how far away and how badly the chicken farm smells.
The stench of a chicken farm also depends on what type of chicken farming is practiced. Free-range and organic chicken farms hardly smell for more than a mile because chicken feces are mostly dropped on grass and soil. The worst odors come from intensive deep-litter farms and battery-cage farming.
Some farms follow sustainable farming practices. They plant trees and tall grass that act as windbreakers and absorb the bad smell. Some farms utilize air filters that cancel out the smell. Whether a farm adopts such sustainable chicken farming practices is another factor that determines how far the smell travels.
Chicken farms smell worse on wet and rainy days than on sunny days. And when they are cleaning out the coops, the smell gets especially bad.
So How far away can you smell a chicken farm?
An intensive chicken farm with no sustainable farming practices can be smelled from more than two miles away. And some people are able to live as close as 2000 feet to a chicken farm and not experience any bad odors. So really, exactly how far away you can smell the chicken farm is dependent on all the factors mentioned above.
The best thing to do when buying property close to a chicken farm is to visit the site many times whenever the season and wind direction change to check out the smell. You can ask around neighbors about the odor. But generally, buying property close to a chicken farm can pose many health risks to you and also a deprecation of the land value when the smell scenario gets worse.
Some disadvantages of living near a chicken farm
Chicken waste is high in ammonia. When you breathe in the fumes, it can lead to many health-related issues like lung and breathing problems, asthma, high blood pressure and many other problems. Farm workers have special breathing equipment to protect their lungs, but neighbors being constantly exposed to the smell is dangerous and potentially life-threatening.
Living near a chicken farm is noisy. The clucking, squawking and flapping of thousands of hens is a large din.
Living near a chicken farm that has a bad smell can lead to your property losing a lot of its resale value.
The chances of having the freshwater supply and the groundwater of your area polluted due to the high acidity and toxic chemicals in chicken manure are very high.
Living close to any intensive livestock farm is a bad idea not only because of the pollution and the health issues that arise from it but also because of the constant hassle of transportation, slaughtering and distress that mars the beauty and peace of your neighborhood.
How far away can you smell a chicken farm? Summary
How far away you can smell a chicken farm depends on many factors like the size of the farm, number of chickens, wind direction, the type of chicken farming and whether they adopt sustainable farming practices. Living close to a chicken farm poses a number of health risks and pollution, so think twice before moving close to any intensive livestock farm.
*All pics are taken from Unsplash.com
