How much do you pay per bird for processing?

[BlackBart]

Quote:
Technically that is the law here as well. They have shut down all the small mobile processors. Why? control, money, pressure from the big commercial processors but they don't have the staff to enforce it. Ridiculous bureaucratic cow poo.
People still sell their birds to somebody other than family.
What happens if they get caught? I don't know, I don't sell my birds, I either eat them or I give them away as presents for favors done for me.
We have one small government inspected processor 30 miles from me. In my area the wealthy City folks moved to the country then complained about the local abattoirs and had them shut down.

The Government here can't even give you a straight answer on selling eggs. It seems every department has a different answer. Some say yes, some say no.
So until they can get their act together and come up with a firm answer, people will still sell eggs off their property.

 

[ElioraImmanuel]

$1.75 bagged, whole

$2.00 bagged, cut up

Ohio (Processed by Amish in Trumbull/Ashtabula County)

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

I'm having trouble finding someone in my area. The one I did find charges 2.50 per chicken and is at least a 45 min drive.

 

[hipeatall]

I found one place that is 4 hours and 45 minutes away... $3.50 a bird...

 

[TimG]

Tab's chicken obsession :

I'm having trouble finding someone in my area. The one I did find charges 2.50 per chicken and is at least a 45 min drive.

That sounds more like "success" than "trouble".​

 

[momofchicks]

Quote:
That sounds more like "success" than "trouble".

I agree, sounds like "success" to me too. We travel about 1 1/2 hours for our processing plant. It's all in how you look at it. We processed a few Roos ourselves and I'll tell ya, it took us an hour each one. (well, maybe some of that time was spent on dissecting the inards as an anatomy class for my 3 boys

) Anyway, we raise like 50 meat birds and there is NO way we are doing it ourselves. Good luck!

 

[Slinkytoys]

I take mine to a USDA meat processor. Live birds in a couple of dog crates, about 25 at a time. Drop them off with instructions to save feet, necks and gizzards/livers/hearts. For $3.00 a bird they will dispatch and process them, then bag and put them in their walk-in cooler for three days. If I can't get back out there right away, they will then freeze them for me. I've been very happy with them!! It's a family owned business. Oh, for 25 cents more they will cut them up too. They charge the same for processing rabbits.
Slinky

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I take mine to the local Amish. It is $1.50 a bird (whole or cut up, but not bagged). And they do a pretty darn good job! Drop them off the night before and pick them up the next morning (she does them in the morning). And they charge $3.00 per turkey -- not too bad!

 

[peterlund]

Eastern Mass. Chickens: $3 to kill and pluck. $3 more to gut and put in plastic. Ducks $7 to kill and pluck... Add $3 to gut. Only one guy local who does it, so he has a monopoly on the market so to speak... They do a great job and are very nice... But the ducks I have are going to be done on my property, as I can't see spending $10 for a $10 duck.

 

[eggbuster]

4
Quote:
Technically that is the law here as well. They have shut down all the small mobile processors. Why? control, money, pressure from the big commercial processors but they don't have the staff to enforce it. Ridiculous bureaucratic cow poo.
People still sell their birds to somebody other than family.
What happens if they get caught? I don't know, I don't sell my birds, I either eat them or I give them away as presents for favors done for me.
We have one small government inspected processor 30 miles from me. In my area the wealthy City folks moved to the country then complained about the local abattoirs and had them shut down.

The Government here can't even give you a straight answer on selling eggs. It seems every department has a different answer. Some say yes, some say no.
So until they can get their act together and come up with a firm answer, people will still sell eggs off their property.

If we get caught it is supposed to be a $25,000-$50,000. fine. Don't know if they actually do that, but they have had extreme cases where the chickens were confiscated at gun point and the farm shut down; practically sent out the swat team. You definitely want to stay off the radar. Same rules apply to eggs. People do deliver meat as well even though it is illegal. I would hesitate to trust people not to rat if they got sick from anything at all including the flu therefore it is very difficult to make any money with processing costs such as they are, and being limited to 300 chickens a year. There can be no doubt that someone somewhere wants small farms shut down completely.