MASON CITY, Iowa — Feathers are being ruffled in Mason City over chicken carcasses. According to the Mason City Globe Gazette, local officials aren’t optimistic about stopping cases where homeowners complain about smells of decaying chickens coming from nearby farming operations.

Dan Breyfogle of Mason City has experienced the problem firsthand. He says that in July, two trucks deposited loads of chicken manure and carcasses on a farm property adjacent to his.

The smell was overpowering, and Breyfogle and his wife complained to county officials, public health officials, elected officials and officials from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.