Requirements for selling butchered chickens at home?

[Kennas_Kritters]

Ok so this would be wayyyyy down the road but I have been thinking about maybe somewhere down the road trying to sell butchered chickens.... it wouldn't be many. Just 5-10 at a time. To do this I need to know what the legal requirements are... do you have to have a license and if so what kind of license would I need? I need all the info I can get! T.i.a

 

[iwltfum]

In the US, federal exemption is different for different levels of scale. ie under 1000 birds, under 2000 birds, under 20,000 birds - per year. Generally, to fall under the small-number exempt requirements, you must slaughter the poultry on your own property and only sell directly to customers - no third party sellers. There are a few other requirements regarding health of the birds, sanitary slaughtering practices, appropriate overhead coverage during slaughter, no interstate sales, and labeling requirements, etc. All of the details can be found at the USDA website here: https://fsis-prod.fsis.usda.gov/guidelines/2010-0006

States have their own rules as well, which vary widely from state to state. Fed mandates maintain that any state that has requirements that are LESS stringent than the fed requirements, the federal regulations can still be enforced.

 

[Welllaidacres]

Ok so this would be wayyyyy down the road but I have been thinking about maybe somewhere down the road trying to sell butchered chickens.... it wouldn't be many. Just 5-10 at a time. To do this I need to know what the legal requirements are... do you have to have a license and if so what kind of license would I need? I need all the info I can get! T.i.a

In my state of Illinois, to harvest and sell my own birds, I would have to have a poultry producers exemption from the state bureau of meat and poultry inspection. The limit here on that is 5,000 birds annually and they must spend their entire lives on your farm. They can only be processed on the premises and be sold to end consumers. The BMPI do not inspect each harvest, but do inspect the facilities and can "drop in" whenever they see fit to reinspect. I do not have the exemption from the state. I take my birds to a processor an hour away. If I didn't work a full time job off the farm I would consider building a facility to process my own.

Aside from this, I am required to have a food license from my county health department and am inspected by them biannually to ensure I am following health code with my freezer and fridge (egg) storage. I sell the birds I raise to both end consumers and retail outlets.

To sell to a retail outlet or restaraunt (nonend user) in Illinois you are also required to have a meat brokers license from the bureau of meat and poultry inspection (1 page form and $50).

I am unsure what Florida's laws are regarding this, but I thought I'd share how it works in Illinois as a bit of reference for you.

 

[3KillerBs]

Each state has it's own laws.

Your local Ag Agent should be able to assist you in figuring things out.