I honestly don't know about other states, but in Texas, you are required to have a Game Bird Breeders License in order to possess Game Birds in captivity for the purpose of propagation or sale, or for selling game bird eggs.
Game Birds defined as: Turkeys, Ducks of all varieties, Geese of all varieties, Brandt, Grouse, Prairie chickens, Pheasant of all varieties, Sandhill cranes, Partridge, Bobwhite Quail, Scaled Quail, Mearn's Quail, Gambel's Quail, Red-Billed Pigeons, Band-tailed Pigeons, Plover of all varieties, Mourning Doves, White-winged Doves, White-fronted Doves, Snipe of all varieties, Shore Birds of all varieties, Chachalaca. (Partridge and all species of pheasant, although not native to Texas, are defined by law as game birds. This includes the Chukar, Hungarian partridge and Francolin.
There are 2 classes of License - Fees may be different this year, I don't know yet.
Class 1 - more than 1000 game birds - Yearly fee is $180.00
Class 2 - not more than 1000 game birds - Yearly fee is $25.00
Either license is valid for selling game bird eggs.
You have to fill out a form yearly and send it into Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
On this form, you list the kind of game bird, the number you have on hand on Aug. 1st (2008), Number of birds purchased, number raised, number sold, number that were released, number that were lost (died), number on hand on July 31st (2009), number of eggs purchased, number of eggs sold, who you bought birds & eggs from, and who you sold birds & eggs to.
(The years are for example; each form starts on August 1st of that year and ends on July 31st of the next year.)
You must furnish upon request of a game warden, a receipt showing: the name and address of whom you bought the birds from, your name and address, the date of purchase, the species and number of birds, eggs, or parts of dead game birds acquired.
I mean, really, how much more regulation do we need??????
Jean