Home Daily News Farmer's deposition on his 'follow the chicken'…

Trials & Litigation

Farmer's deposition on his 'follow the chicken' philosophy is re-enacted

A chicken farmer suing a lumber company for allegedly damaging his land and chicken coop in 2001 made some startling—and unchallenged—claims during his deposition.

The unusual claims began in response to a question about whether his business was part of a corporate entity, according to a re-enactment by the New York Times Op-Doc video series.

“Sir,” the farmer replies, “I had a vision back when I was a child that nobody else in this world could recognize but myself. I know where Osama bin Laden is today. I know the cure for SARS today. I know many, many things in this world that other people don’t recognize, don’t understand and don’t know, simply because I follow the chicken.

“That sounds stupid, that sounds unrealistic. You think it’s childish. But the national bird is the eagle. The international bird is the chicken. Chicken will carry you down the darkest alleys of the world safely.”

The farmer goes on to assert that he has been many places with chickens. “I’ve been around the world six times on the back of the chicken,” he says. He was ultimately awarded $3,200 in damages.

Op-Doc director Brett Weiner explains the lesson he learned from staging the re-enactment. “When a deposition gets completely derailed at the whim of the witness,” he writes in the Times, “it raises questions of effectiveness. Every unchallenged digression in ‘Follow the Chicken’ illustrates how easily the system can be abused. I hope after watching we can ask ourselves, ‘Is this the best way to get closer to the truth?’ ”