Mysterious: Hundreds of dead chickens found in Sampson County woods

The photo shows a mound of dead birds in a field, surrounded by a wooded area off Herring Road in Sampson County.

Over the weekend, it was unclear what happened to the animals or how they ended up there; however, WRAL's Gilbert Baez is beginning to piece together clues after speaking with one of the truck drivers hired to dispose of them.

A truck driver from Rob's Trucking Company, who wanted to remain anonymous, says his company was hired to take the dead chickens to the Sampson County Landfill in Roseboro.

He says his company was hired by Valley Proteins in Rose Hill, but he's not sure if they were responsible for putting the chickens there.

As buzzards circle overhead, his team has been removing dead chickens for more than a week. The smell has lingered for those who live nearby.

Nicholas Manor, a Sampson County resident, says, "It's a pile maybe 20-30 feet long of just raw animals."

"It's a slew of chickens," says the truck driver. "Probably about 500 to 600 chickens."

Manor believes whoever brought them here likely thought it was remote enough that it would be okay to dump. He says they've had problems in the past as well, and it affects the quality of the air.

There is no timeline on how long it could take to fully remove the enormous pile of chickens. Illegal animal dumping can lead to civil penalties.

Officials said there was no disease associated with the dead birds.