Ever since about 2005 there has been a big push to big chicken houses in eastern NC. A chicken house is a big pole barn metal building about 60’ x 500’.
This shift in chicken production was to get the food grown closer to the Northeast and export to Europe. In the past the chicken houses were mostly in Arkansas.
NC has always had large scale poultry production. Holly Farms Chicken started in Wilkesboro in the 50’s and grew to be large enough to be bought out by Tyson or Perdue (can’t recall which) in the late 80’s or early 90’s.
Big chicken killed the small producers.