How do you sell chickens for meat?

[ShadyHoller]

A.T. Hagan :

Check out http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/poultry/entrepreneurship.html

This is ATTRAs Poultry Entrepreneurship page. The document you're looking for is Legal Issues for Small-scale Poultry Processors:
State by state listing of laws affecting small poultry processors. It's a PDF file.

Lots of other good info on that site as well. Much of the footwork has already been done for you.

I'm not sure why it took me a week to see this thread, but that link to the ATTRA website is awesome! I've just started exploring, but it looks like there's a world of good info there on sustainable ag practices. Thanks!​

 

[chicken coop scoop]

If i decided to raise around 20 Cornish X this spring, would it be possible for me to sell directly to a processing company? And would this even be profitable since I would have to sell at lower prices? Or would I be better off trying to sell quail or turkery.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

No, typically it's not possible to sell them to a processing company. The large processors run plants that do more than one million birds a week and it's all a highly coordinated process. Twenty birds aren't worth their trouble and unless they are a certain size won't likely fit into their automated process.

You may be able to find very small scale processors that would process your birds for fee, but it's unlikely that they would buy your live birds outright.

To make some money, your best bet is to process them yourselves and sell them to friends and neighbors. Another alternative would be to place a Craigslist ad and sell them locally as live birds, ready to process. Many ethnic groups prefer to purchase live poultry for dinner.

 

[heavygear88]

ok i would just like to clear this up, and i understand this is an old post but according to the usda if you are slaughtering no more then 1000 birds per year then you can sell dead birds to anyone you like unless they do not move across state lines (commerce). i dont know where the notion came that in order for you to sell our birds they have to be alive. now some states do have there own laws that do effect this. however just solely going off of the usda information the only criteria that has to be met is: slaughter no more then 1000 birds, the birds are of your own raising no one elses, everything is sanitary, you keep records, and your product does not move in commerce, and commerce is defined by the usda as any product moving between state lines. and if your state abides by this that means you can sell YOUR processed birds to whomever you please wherever you please as long as it remains in your state. it would not be a process exemption if you werent allowed to process your meat would it.

 

[Randoo]

Here you go; 5,000 poultry total, sold on the farm or delivered to the customer. No farmer's market sales, and you must apply for an IL poultry exemption to do this. Any poultry sold retail would have to be processed at a USDA or IL Dept of AG inspected processor.

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/iidea/PDF/meatregulations.pdf

 

[cutechick2010]

From what I understand of the exemptions, you have to follow certain rules regarding your processing facilities and use certain c types of chemicals for sanitizing etc. What they don't mention is processing outdoors, which is what I do. I am thinking they would not allow that. Would it be legal for me to teach someone how to process a bird that they bought from me?

 

[heavygear88]

well joel salatin of polyface farms ( you can look him up on google if you dont know who he is) has a 20,000 poultry exemption and all of his slaughtering for poultry is done outdoors.

 

[heavygear88]

as far as the rules for your facility if you fall under the 1000 exemption (remember this is strictly with the federal exemption) you just have to maintain a clean process and not adulterate the meat, because your completely exempt from any inspection period as long as your records show your under 1000 birds annually. now if you fall in the 1000-20,000 exemption your not exempt from inspection your just exempt from having to process them at an approved processing facility. however you have to file for a exemption permit and your processing place at your home or whereever it should be has to be inspected periodically, and theres several other rules for this exemption. but for all intensive purposes if your raising a backyard flock and stay under the 1000 limit shouldnt be too much of an issue. being that im in virginia our poultry laws are identical to the federal ones. you have to check with your state for any differences or variation to that.

 

[cutechick2010]

well joel salatin of polyface farms ( you can look him up on google if you dont know who he is) has a 20,000 poultry exemption and all of his slaughtering for poultry is done outdoors.

Yes, I know. Watching his movie is where I got the information. He has his open air facility now, but had to go through a huge battle to get it. It really isn't worth that much effort for me, LOL.

 

[heavygear88]

hahah yeah really not worth it to me either but proof that it can be done.