300 broilers- UPDATE

[harleyjo]

We're not selling the frozen chickens. The plan is we will raise the chickens, & pay for all costs associated. Then the day of the fundraiser (there is a huge event in town), a group that grills chickens for fundraisers will grill up the chickens and sell them by halves and quarters. So they should be able to raise quite a chunk of change. DH has some money set aside from a side job he did and he wants to donate it this way. I think I'd rather write a check!

The other thing I might be concerned about is the legalities. Can you process the chickens not in a USDA approved facility to sell for a fund raisers? You may need to check the state laws to see if you can. You may have to check several places to find out for sure. I know there are a lot of rules governing the processing and selling of meat.

 

[harleyjo]

I didn't come across as clearly as I wanted to. I realize you are going to grill it and sell it but I still think there could be laws about this.

 

[harleyjo]

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dia/Temporary food establishments.pdf



i. Approved food source. All food supplies shall come from a commercial manufacturer or an approved source. The use of food in hermetically sealed containers that is not prepared in an approved food processing plant is prohibited. Transport vehicles used to supply food products are subject to inspection and shall protect food from physical, chemical and microbial contamination.


I know that even though I have fresh eggs and if the cafe in town would run out, they can't use my eggs because they did not come from an approved facility. When you are selling food to the public there are rules and especially meat and stuff. I would double check to make sure you can do it.

 

[Beekissed]

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dia/Temporary food establishments.pdf



i. Approved food source. All food supplies shall come from a commercial manufacturer or an approved source. The use of food in hermetically sealed containers that is not prepared in an approved food processing plant is prohibited. Transport vehicles used to supply food products are subject to inspection and shall protect food from physical, chemical and microbial contamination.


I know that even though I have fresh eggs and if the cafe in town would run out, they can't use my eggs because they did not come from an approved facility. When you are selling food to the public there are rules and especially meat and stuff. I would double check to make sure you can do it.

It also stated the required temps to cook meats not grown commercially such as poultry or fish, so these statutes are about as clear as mud. Why would they list the temps for meat not grown commercially and then state that food supplies need to come from a commercial source? Do they mean processed foods such as condiments, side dishes such as salads, desserts, etc.?

 

[harleyjo]

It also stated the required temps to cook meats not grown commercially such as poultry or fish, so these statutes are about as clear as mud. Why would they list the temps for meat not grown commercially and then state that food supplies need to come from a commercial source? Do they mean processed foods such as condiments, side dishes such as salads, desserts, etc.?

I agree it is very unclear and that is why I said she might want to check into it. The only reason I know even this little bit about it is that I was checking into some Farmers Market stuff and ran across this.

 

[harleyjo]

It also stated the required temps to cook meats not grown commercially such as poultry or fish, so these statutes are about as clear as mud. Why would they list the temps for meat not grown commercially and then state that food supplies need to come from a commercial source? Do they mean processed foods such as condiments, side dishes such as salads, desserts, etc.?

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dia/Farmer's_Market_Summary.pdf Here is another link and that is why I even knew anything about this.

 

[harleyjo]

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dia/481_IAC_30.pdf


Here is one last link to look at. I don't think I would be concerned about doing a fund raiser for the church. What I am not sure about is what you are going to be doing. Raising the chickens and butchering them yourselves is where I think there could be some red flags. I could be completely wrong but it is a tremendous liability in this sue happy world and I just want you to make sure your i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

I think is a very wonderful thing that your husband wants to do it but make sure to protect yourself too.

 

[ericsplls]

I'm not knowledgeable enough on your states laws to comment on legalities. You say you want to process over several weekends. If your going to stagger proccessing you need to stagger chicks also. Especially since you plan to grill the chicken. There's a big difference in cook time between a seven week old bird and a nine week old because of weight. That means if whoever fills the grill has halves from three different weeks of proccessing cooks them all the same amount of time the smaller pieces will be over cooked the bigger pieces of chicken may be under cooked. You usually get a better price on chicks for larger orders but you may lose that discount in feed the few extra weeks you are feeding them while trying to get them all proccessed. Not trying to talk you out of it just something to think about. You can also make your space work a little better. If you do three batches of 100 each a week apart, by the time your last batch comes out from under the heat lamps the first batch is headed to freezer camp. An outside run is also great to allow someone to shovel the daily waste. A hundred six week old broilers make about 35lbs of manure per day. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[erinchelsea]

Thanks for the links, Jo. I'm headed off to work now so I don't have time to read everything thoroughly, but I will look into it.

Lots of things to thank about, thanks for all the thoughts everyone!

 

[harleyjo]

Thanks for the links, Jo. I'm headed off to work now so I don't have time to read everything thoroughly, but I will look into it.

Lots of things to thank about, thanks for all the thoughts everyone!

Please let us know what you find out.