Hatred of chickens. Poultry farms have been causing opposition in the countryside for years

Residents of the villages of Kominki, Zawidy, Tarniny and surrounding towns express categorical opposition to the construction of a specialized poultry farm – approximately 832,000. birds in 11 large buildings. “The analysis of the environmental impact report indicates the gigantic scale of the project, which will permanently and negatively change the character of our region, degrading the natural environment and drastically reducing the quality of our life,” they argue in the petition.

Residents of Beznatka in Greater Poland also do not want “the village to be turned into an industrial poultry farm.” The same protest is taking place in Tończa in the Liw commune (Mazovia) and in Michałki (Rokitno commune in the Lublin Voivodeship). This concerns “possible environmental degradation, destruction of infrastructure, including municipal roads, and noxious odors.”

Chicken farms are a source of intense odor

These are not arguments taken completely from the ceiling. Poultry farms are a source of a very intense, unpleasant odor, often described simply as an ammonia-like odor, which is particularly troublesome near houses and apartments. This odor is the result of emissions of ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and dust, and increases when cleaning the poultry houses every 6-8 weeks, as well as on hot days.

Residents of houses adjacent to farms often complain about the smell, headaches, nausea and breathing problems. The regulations require breeders to maintain a minimum distance (500 m) from residential buildings, but for residents this is often insufficient insulation from odor.

The European Union is silent on the stench from hen houses

The Ministry of Climate and Environment is preparing a draft odor act, and the new regulations are intended to regulate odor emissions from farms and agricultural installations. According to officials, the perception of odors is individual – the same smell may cause different reactions, depending on, among others, on the person’s sensitivity and attitude towards the source of emission. Determining clear criteria for odor nuisance is therefore a regulatory challenge.

An additional difficulty is the lack of uniform EU legislation on odor regulation – there is currently no separate directive or common guidelines in this area. And the reluctance against chicken breeding is not only a Polish specialty. In Croatia, protests against plans to build a mega poultry farm in the Sisak industrial zone are intensifying. Ukrainian businessman Andriy Matuka wants to build 18 huge chicken houses there, as well as a feed factory, a chick hatchery, a huge slaughterhouse and a poultry processing plant. This involves forest clearing, lack of drinking water, river contamination and stench, but it’s simply good, profitable business.

The draft odor act has been in development for the 10th year. In 2016, the Code for Counteracting Odor Nuisance and an expert opinion identifying substances responsible for unpleasant odors were developed. In 2020, guidelines were prepared regarding safe distances of investments from buildings, and in 2025, a legal analysis was prepared regarding potential levels of odor emissions for selected industries. The final draft of the Odor Act will soon be submitted to the government.