Wyandotte Farm owners Michael and Elizabeth King are heading to the state Department of Public Health with a request to open a chicken processing facility, but that will be an uphill battle if neighbor Roland Letendre has anything to say about it.

“I want to go on the record of being against it,” said Letendre, who owns property to the west of the farm. “It doesn’t sound idyllic for a residential house, when Slaughterhouse 5 is over there.”

He went on to say that the Kings’ plan to sell chicken was “like Forest Gump with shrimp.”

Letendre and several other abutters to the Kings’ property, located at 88 Marion Road (Route 6) voiced concerns about the proposal at the Board of Health meeting on Wednesday morning.

The Kings sought a letter of approval from the board to accompany their application to the Department of Public Health, which was submitted two years ago. The couple would like to process 50 chickens a week, 50 weeks of the year in a facility to be setup on the two-acre farm. They plan to sell the chickens locally. Wyandotte Farm is already a licensed business.

According to Michael King, the chickens, farm and waste produced by the facility will only have a “natural, organic smell” that should not affect the neighbors, if everything is done properly.

“Of course, the question is, what if things don’t work correctly?” said Mike Huguenin, a volunteer of the Mattapoisett Land Trust, whose property abuts the farm.

Michael King responded that he and his wife have worked in food management with the fishing industry for decades and that his wife has experience working with chickens as she grew up on a farm. He also said they plan to keep the operation small.

“We just want to be able to live here and pay our taxes and enjoy our life,” said King.

Recently, the Kings received approval from the Conservation Commission to create an area on their property to compost the inedible chicken parts and liquid waste. The area is 100 feet from a wetland on an adjacent property. The composting system should be self-contained and not create any runoff, according to Michael King.

Resident Brad Hathaway said he is worried that the almost 4,000 gallons of liquid waste from the chickens each year combined with rain might be too much for the compost pile and lead to runoff that eventually ends up in Buzzards Bay.

“Chicken manure is the greatest thing for growing rhubarb. Why? Because it’s loaded with nitrogen. These free-range chickens don’t have diapers on,” said Hathaway.

He suggested seeking more expert opinions before moving forward.

Animal Control Officer Kathy Massey was also concerned that the chickens would get out and cause a problem, saying she already found a duck from the property killed on Route 6 and found a chicken on a nearby road that she believes belongs to the farm.

“No matter how contained, they get out,” she said.

Despite concerns, the board decided it had no authority over the Kings’ proposal in light of an e-mail from Town Counsel.

Brian Winner of the municipal law firm Kopelman and Paige wrote that “the Board does not have any regulations governing this particular matter and there presently is no local permitting requirement.”

The Department of Public Health is alone responsible for inspecting the property and determining if it the proposal is viable.

“Ultimately, it’s the DPH that is the licensing authority,” said Carmelo Nicolosi.

Kim Foley of the Department of Public Health said the preliminary inspection of Wyandotte Farm is at the end of June.