Why's that 257?

Due to nature of its release. Many more problems arise from synthetic fertilizers esp nitrates. Only reason the public views litter as "bad" is the smell. It's mostly organic based so it breaks down differently. I said in an earlier post litter isn't the demise of turkeys. At least not solely.

257 I hope you're right and I'm 100% wrong, but, common sense and my gut feeling tells me otherwise. Let me give you a couple of examples that cause my concern. I grew up hunting a 2000 acre block of small farms, mostly cows, timber and a little row cropping. Up until about 10 years ago it was absolutely full of turkeys. About 15 years ago the first 4 chicken houses were built and the farmer started spreading his litter on his and other farms in the block. There are 37 chicken houses in this block now. Every acre of row crop and pasture has chicken litter spread on it at least once a year. There is not 1 turkey in that block now. The air quality and flies are terrible for the unfortunate people that live in the area. The chicken company is trying to build as many houses as possible within a certain radius of their feed mills and processing plants. This is understandable from an economic viewpoint to keep production costs down, but, how sound is the business model from a long term environmental viewpoint. This is a common theme throughout southeast Alabama. Another area I hunt is unbroken woodlands for miles and miles. There's not any poultry houses nearby and I assume the food plots in this area are fertilized with synthetic fertilizers. It is ate up with turkeys and has been for many years. Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe not. I can tell you that I'm not the only one noticing it. Another thing that concerns me is the fact that most growers are limited as to what medications and chemicals they can use to treat diseases. After the birds are caught and the litter is cleaned out, the grower has to shut his houses up for a certain number of days before they get their next flock. This is supposed to suppress disease activity by raising the temp of the bedding material. The untreated, diseased litter is spread. Like I said, I hope I'm totally wrong.

It's an easy target like I said. Not saying it's 100% free of blame. But you also have unsound timber practices, poor hatches (weather), more hunting pressure etc. failures rarely lie squarely on one factor.

Sad day when the Chicken Mafia has made 257 an offer he can't refuse...