Drunken Man to Blame for the Deaths of 70,000 Chickens


A drunken man in Delmar, Maryland is to blame for the deaths of 70,000 chickens.

NBCNews.com reports that the man, identified as Joshua D. Shelton, drunkenly wandered around a poultry farm and turned off the power to three chicken houses. The loss of power resulted in the deaths of the 70,000 chickens.

Mark Shockley, the property owner, found Shelton, 21, passed out on the floor of the power control shed. When he was found, Shelton was only wearing a t-shirt and boxer shorts.

“This subject was also lying in a pool of his own urine. A strong odor of alcohol was also coming from the subject,” Wicomico County sheriff’s Lt. Tim Robinson said in a press release.

After Shelton had been awoken by the investigating deputy, Lt. Robinson, he had no recollection of what happened.

“Shelton advised the last thing he remembered was being on the property after a nearby concert but did not know how he ended up in the shed. The deputy surmised that in his intoxicated state, Shelton turned off the circuit breakers that controlled the electricity to the chicken houses,” Robinson said.

DelmarvaNow.com reports that Shockley discovered the dead chickens Saturday morning. After the discovery, he proceded to tell investigators that chickens would begin to die after 15 minutes without power.

The chickens that were going to be delivered to a local processing plant the next day, were valued at $20,000. Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Gary Baker said that Allen Farms, where the chickens were going to be processed, estimated it’s loss at $220,000.

Shelton was arrested and jailed on charges of second-degree burglary, trespassing, and malicious destruction of property.

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