Selling Live Birds and Free Slaughter

[casamc]

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I am going to try and do some research for our county as well as the state and see if they agree with the 1000 chicken rule.

I read somewhere that Joel Salatin is doing something similar at Poly Face.

I had not even considered the price issue. I could sell the bird for say $4 and then charge a processing fee based on hanging weight. Or just charge a flat fee of say $8. Any thoughts?

 

[cjdmashley]

(I personally can't fathum this price but) People up here are selling theirs for up to $4.00 Per Pound!!!!

 

[jodief100]

Quote:
It varies from state to state. Here in Kentucky, we can't see anything unless it was processed by a USDA facility. I would highly recomend not charging for processing, just for the birds. Don't even say processing is included in the price. That way you can say truthfully you did not sell processed birds, only live ones. It is more difficult to regulate something when people are "giving" it away.

Just charge a flat fee for the birds. In most states if you sell per pound you have to have a scale inspected by the county auditor.

 

[scubaforlife]

There is a federal USDA exemption that allows for 1000 birds in all states.

You enter into a contract while the bird is alive, it doesn't have to be an exact dollar amount. You can say "when you arrive you will owe me $3/lb hanging weight" or whatever. It isn't a requirement that you have a stated price for a fixed dollar amount.

I would be upfront with them and say "My average is around 6lbs".

You cannot deliver, your customer must come to the farm where the birds were raised.

Or, you can just do what you want and if the USDA shows up, tell them to go shut down the beef packer that killed Kevin (google Kevin's law). Or shut down the spinach/romaine/tomato growers that are spreading ecoli.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Quote:
I said the same thing even linked the usda page for the 1000 exempt law and I guess the ods removed it seems to happen alot to posts I make so to find it yourself google "1000 birds slaughter exempt a year" and you can go and read all the federal information for yourself without the fear of it being yanked off the web good luck.

 

[eKo_birdies]

thank you for posting this again, as i missed the link you posted the first time.

*edit* Please do not question moderation.

Moderators have no idea which post you are referring to and changes are done for a reason.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Thank you for that USDA info - not something I would have ever thought to google.

 

[raimnel]

WI laws states that I can raise, butcher and sell from my own land upto 1000 birds. but they have to of been on MY land from start to finish. and I have been charging per pound. at this time $2.00 per pound whole bird. and we're doing it again next year. Oh! I just remembered. we sold live birds priced per bird, not pounds. they asked if they could butcher here and I sid NO, and was advised here not to let them butcher on our land. what if something happened to them on our land? whos responsible? next thing you know they sue you for all ya got! no way! they take them live and butcher them if they want. BUT the ones that we raise for butcher to sell, we butcher, they have no say if they want them live or not..... never had anyone ask for them live.... they'd be the same price though!

ETA - there are rules of what the label has to read!!

 

[jodief100]

Quote:
I wish the Commonwealth of Kentucky knew that. The Ag inspectors here tell you must be USDA processed NO EXCEPTIONS. They have been fining people and confiscating birds.

 

[ourflockof4]

Quote:
I wish the Commonwealth of Kentucky knew that. The Ag inspectors here tell you must be USDA processed NO EXCEPTIONS. They have been fining people and confiscating birds.

In a lot of instances smaller, local goverment can adopt rules that are more stringent then the larger governing body that they reside in. This may be one of those cases. This is just speculation but I'm sure it probably the case.

I know that this is the case for building codes. Most states adopt one of the 2 main national codes, and then modify them to suit their needs. Then counties, city, ect can either follow the state code as it is written, or modify it as they wish, as long as the modifications are more stringent the the state reg's. . . . I am assuming that KY modified the USDA rules to make them more stringent