Via Shutterstock

Via Shutterstock


An eastern Maryland man was arrested last weekend at a poultry farm in Delmar, Md. on charges that his drunken antics led to the death of 70,000 chickens.

Soak that in a bit—70,000 chickens.

A deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from the farm’s owner shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday. The owner complained that the power to his three chicken coops had been shut down over night, cutting off the feeding machines along with the water supply and cooling fans.

With no food, water or cool air, the entire flock of 70,000 birds was found dead, according to a Wiciomico County news release. When the chicken farmer inspected the shed housing the controls for the shut-down systems, he discovered an unknown young man passed out on the floor of the shed, wearing only in a T-Shirt and boxer shorts. The farmer told the deputy the man reeked of booze and appeared to be soaked in his own urine.

The deputy identified the suspect as 21-year-old Joshua Shelton, also of Delmar, and managed to rouse him to consciousness. Shelton told the officer that he did not recall how he ended up in the electrical control shed of a chicken farm, but that he found his way onto the property after attending a nearby concert the evening before, the sheriff’s office said. The deputy surmised that in his drunken state, Shelton allegedly entered the shed and switched off the circuit breakers controlling the now-dead chickens’ life support.

Shelton was arrested on charges of second-degree burglary, trespassing and malicious destruction of property. He is being held on $75,000 bond.

As for the dead birds? The 70,000 chickens were valued at $20,000, and the farmer was due to send them to a processing plant the following day.