The prefect of Drôme has just given his approval for the extension of a breeding farm in Peyrins, to increase the number of chickens from 30,000 to 143,000. Enough to worry some local residents and animal rights activists.
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In Peyrins, near Romans-sur-Isère, the existing chicken coop will soon be expanded, increasing its capacity from 30,000 to 143,000 birds. A new, colossal project, led by the Duc company. It will include three new buildings for a potential production of 1.1 million chickens per year.
From the top of a small hill, Bernard Pipon observes the current chicken coop, which will soon be under construction, a few hundred meters from his home. He denounces a “ecological and social nonsense”. “We see the three grain silos, and there will be three other buildings that will be added to this one.”
“We will do everything to ensure that this chicken coop does not happen, neither here nor anywhere else.”
Bernard Pipon, opposed to the expansionto franceinfo
This member of the collective opposed to the extension project denounces in particular the future conditions of chicken breeding. For him, “143,000 chickens crammed together with less than an A4 sheet of living space for each is something that is inconceivable.” He intends to fight and is even considering taking legal action.
The mayor of Peyrins, Philippe Barneron, is also worried. According to him, the breeding already attracts a lot of flies in the neighborhood. If the chicken coop is extended, it will also increase road traffic, with two large trucks per day.
Above all, it will consume 11,000 cubic meters of water per year in an area affected by drought. The elected official assures, “We will have much less water, that’s obvious.”For two years in a row, there have been watering restrictions in our area. We are limited to one withdrawal for irrigation, to wash cars and fill swimming pools. Why should we allow some people to increase their water consumption and not others?”
The mayor refused to sign the building permits, but the prefect ruled against him. “I tried, but they won, Philippe Barneron laments. I feel like we haven’t been heard. We’re very small. In our small town of 1,700 inhabitants, we don’t have a strong legal service, we feel very alone.”
On the contrary, Thierry Momé, representative of the poultry sector at the Drôme Chamber of Agriculture, defends the extension of the chicken coop and this French production. “Imported poultry, even if they may be quality products, do not comply with the same specifications as what we, French breeders, are required to do,” he assures. Banning breeding in France would amount to “promote imports with food that will be less standardized than that which we want to ban in France”, according to him.
As for animal welfare, with 21 chickens per square meter, the farm complies with European standards, the farmer points out.