How many chickens is too many? This isn’t the start of a joke, but rather a question that neighbors and officials are going to have to grapple with in Waxahachie in Ellis County, Texas.
That’s because aeroponic farmer Anthony Whitley recently had a large number of chickens delivered to a plot of land he is renting to run a free-range egg project.
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"Take the commercial chickens and put them in a situation where they live, and they be more healthy so they can produce more healthy eggs” Whiltey told NBC DFW, explaining his goal for his new egg farm.
While he may be a good egg with his intentions, some residents, however, aren’t exactly on board with this idea, though, and city officials have already taken action.
Thousands of chickens may not make good neighbors
Whitley has long been a pioneer in the field of alternative agriculture, bragging that he was the "first guy that put a rooftop garden inside Deep Ellum with the aeroponic technology."
Now, he’s renting land for his farming project, and he decided to add some birds to the mix. “I already grow produce, so I’m mixing produce with poultry and eggs,” Whitley said. “One day to have a farm market or something like that, you know.”
He didn’t just get a few chickens, though. Neighbor Loretta Billings told NBC that she was told the number was somewhere around 18,000 — although Whitley said it’s more like several thousand, but didn’t provide exact details.
Regardless of the specific number, Billings wasn’t happy to find the birds wandering free. "Well, they smell, they get into all of the other yards. I don’t know if these chickens are clean. It just don’t look right,” she complained.
Whitley believes this is fixable, though, and says that his neighbors just haven’t been patient enough with the process. "From the rain, you know, I stayed out there for days trying to herd them in,” said Whitley. “We’re getting everything put up and if you just give us a few seconds and they won’t even see them. Then, we’ll go back to regular life.”
Farm worker Quinton McCright also took issue with the bad press, indicating that the chaos was just temporary and all would be well in the end. "Everybody’s coming by, taking pictures and videos and we just wanted to put the narrative out there that this is nothing negative,” McCright said. “This is all positive, and this will be a good source for the community.”
Of course, these assurances may not put neighbors at ease, given the very large volume of chickens that are apparently residing locally.
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Your rights if your neighbor runs afoul of the law
In this particular case, Whitley apparently didn’t follow protocols for poultry entering the state, so the Texas Animal Health Commission indicated they were addressing the situation.
However, if the chicken were imported legally, residents would need to explore all of their options if they were dissatisfied with the situation. This would typically start with checking local zoning laws to see how many animals and what types of animals are allowed to be kept on the property.
Both zoning laws and local health and safety codes are a good place to start if you believe your neighbors are doing something dangerous or something that will affect your enjoyment of your property. If there’s a code or regulatory violation, you can report the issue to the local authorities, who will take action.
When there is a concern about the condition that animals are living in, on the other hand, you can contact your local animal control department for assistance.
If your neighbor is following all of the laws, though, you may have limited recourse and may simply have to rely on your neighbor’s goodwill and common sense — like knowing that 18,000 chickens roaming the neighborhood is a bit of a cracked idea.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
