Plan for giant chicken farm divides residents and farmers in France

Residents, farmers and officials in south-eastern France are divided over plans to expand a chicken farm from 30,000 to 143,000 birds, after the project was controversially approved by the prefecture.

The Drôme prefecture granted approval for the farm near Peyrins, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes department. The expansion will enable around five times the number of hens to live on the ‘mega-farm’, which is run by the French poultry producer DUC.

Three new buildings on the site will enable the farm to ‘produce’ up to 1.1 million hens per year.

‘Inconceivable nonsense’

But some residents are firmly against the plans.

Bernard Pipon, a local resident who lives a few hundred metres away from the farm, has set up a collective against the project, and has said he is prepared to take the issue to court. 

He told FranceInfo: “[This is] social and ecological nonsense. Where there are three grain silos [currently], there will be three more buildings.

“143,000 chickens packed in with less than one A4 sheet of paper surface area for each, is completely inconceivable,” he said. “We will do everything we can so this farm does not happen, here or anywhere else.”

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Mayoral concerns

Mayor of Peyrins, Philippe Barneron, has also said there are concerns, and refused to sign the planning permit for the project.

Mr Barneron cited problems including increased nuisance insects in the area, and extra local traffic (as there will be two more large trucks travelling to and from the farm per day). The farm is also expected to consume 11,000 m3 of water per year, in an area that is already affected by drought.

‘We will have much less water, that is obvious,” he said. “‘We have had water restrictions in our area for two years running. We are limited when it comes to using water for irrigation, cleaning cars, and topping up swimming pools. 

“Why should we allow some people to increase their water consumption and not others?”

Despite the mayor’s opposition, the prefect ruled against him. “I tried, but they won,” Mr Barneron said.

“I feel that we were not heard,” he said. “We are very small. In our little commune of 1,700 inhabitants, we do not have a large legal department, so we feel very alone.”

Read also: French village rallies behind farmer told to quieten her chickens 

‘French poultry feed standards’

In contrast, Thierry Momé, poultry industry representative at the Drôme Chamber of Agriculture - and a poultry farmer himself - has defended the project, and said it will help to boost French chicken production and standards. 

“Imported poultry, even though it may be a quality product, does not comply with the same specifications as those to which French poultry farmers are obliged to adhere,” he said. “Banning poultry farms in France would be tantamount to favouring imports with feed that is less standardised than the feed that we want to ban in France.”

As for animal welfare, the farmer points out that, with 21 chickens per square metre, the farm complies with European standards.