Unknown neighbors - Chicken houses - an aerial view

As you are surfing the internet looking at aerial views have you pondered what those long rectangular "mirrors" may be on the ground that are in rural areas of the country in the mid south and eastern part of the United States? The answer - in this case - is chicken houses! Usually they are in groups of 2. In this example there are 6 of them. Depending upon the topography they may be very close to your home and you will not even know it - until the manure is removed.

Each of these houses contains approximately 40,000 chickens. In this picture this equates to about 240,000 of them that may be your neighbors - if you happen to live "next door". In most instances you will get a flock of new neighbors about every 40 to 55 days. At that time both the chickens and the manure are removed.

The chickens are almost always grown by the land owner, under contract, for one of the 3 major poultry processors in the United States. The land owner also owns the building and other infrastructure associated with the operation. The contractor determines how long they are fed, when they are removed and when a new flock arrives.

In most instances, chicken farms are required to obtain an NPDES permit from the EPA or the EPA equivalent in state in which they operate. This permit regulates the disposal of the manure, any deceased animals and the overall operation of the farm.

So, now as you are "surfing" the maps on the internet, you will know what some of those rectangular mirrors are that are staring back at you - chicken houses!