S$2,000 fine for man who bred 25 chickens in his HDB flat to sell on Facebook

SINGAPORE — A 50-year-old man was fined S$2,000 on Wednesday (Aug 18) for illegally breeding more than two dozen chickens in his Pasir Ris flat for commercial purposes.

Eric Woo Yoke Meng, a Singaporean, had disguised the sale of chickens by selling poultry feed to members of his Facebook group. They had “adopted” chickens he had bred from eggs they supplied as part of the arrangement.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of maintaining a farm without a licence under the Animals and Birds (Licensing of Farms) Rules.

Two other charges of keeping more than 10 non-commercial poultry animals in any premises, as well as using his five-room flat for the distribution of chickens without a licence, were taken into consideration for sentencing.

In 2019, TODAY reported that he was regarded among the poultry-rearing community as one of Singapore’s leading chicken rearers. He frequently put up hatchlings for “adoption” on the Facebook group he founded, called Fowl Mouthed Family, for a fee.

However, his hobby took a big hit in May 2019 when Housing and Development Board (HDB) officers paid a surprise visit following a tip-off, and told him that keeping chickens in HDB flats was not allowed.

The court heard on Wednesday that the National Parks Board (NParks) received feedback from a member of the public about Woo operating the group and selling packets of poultry feed to those who adopted chickens from him.

On July 9 last year, NParks officers visited his flat and found 25 chickens kept in two enclosures and a plastic container.

Investigations revealed that Woo had formed the group in July 2018 to promote the ownership of and interest in poultry. He grew the total membership to about 1,880.

He collected chicken eggs from members, hatched them, and raised the chickens before letting the members adopt them in exchange for buying two packets of poultry feed at S$39.90 each.

However, they had to return one packet to him to support his breeding programme and use the other packet to feed the chickens they adopted.

NParks prosecutor Wendy Tan told the court: “In short, the adopters would take home two young chicks and one packet of poultry feed after paying $79.80 to the accused. The accused admitted that he bought each packet of poultry feed at $25 from a retailer.” 

For maintaining a farm at his residential premises without a licence, he could have been jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$10,000, or both.