USDA Regs?

[SweetLilRachy00]

I thought we had something stickied somewhere so I could refer to it, but couldn't find anything!

I'm looking into checking out the regulations for my area on selling meat from birds. Anyone have any useful links that I can search by area?

I'm in South Carolina.

Thanks!

PS-I tried google and didn't know where to begin and couldn't find much with what actually did look promising!

 

[MissPrissy]

You should contact your local county extention office. They will know exactly the rules and regulations for your state and USDA.

 

[K&H Chicken Farm]

Quote:
Good luck with that! I have been talking to them for 2 weeks and no one can give me a ansewer here. I hope you get a respone faster then I am getting one.

 

[MissPrissy]

I have never had a problem with the extention office either here or back home in Georgia. Especially in a farming community they are the go to people.

 

[SweetLilRachy00]

So I look up Extension office in the phone book? I have no idea what that is, This is all really new to me!

I'll get out the book and look for something. At least I can get aother phone number to call. lol

 

[blue90292]

yup, the extension office here knows nothing about chickens but everything about beef. but try and do anything for the cause of the little farmer trying to grow chickens and you'll get stomped on by the state which is backed by the big chicken factory's around here.

i get my information from the texas state health commission. that's who i pay my fees to to sell my live chickens and so they know more about chickens than the extension office. try your states health commission. they should have a website. ask for the poultry section and they'll connect you to the right person, i'm sure.

also, i think NC has a chicken yahoo group or something. the people there should know and if not, you can always go to your local markets where people sell processed chickens and they would be able to help you with the needed information.

i did a search "grass-fed chickens" and found a guy down the road from me who sells about 3000 chickens a year at the local markets and to the local restaurants. he told me pretty much everything i needed to know.

hope this helps.

michele

 

[greyfields]

Start with your Extension office. Each County has one sponsored by the State's agricultral college. Ours has a pamphlet they just hand you, since they get asked the question a lot.

The processing of poultry does not fall under USDA guidelines unless you are processing over 19,999 birds per year. So you generally only need to comply with State regulations for slaughter, packaging and storage... then County rules for how you hold the chickens for sale (either from home or off your premises at a farm market).

Some people are blessed and have USDA processing available for chickens. It's not necessary, though. Again this applies to poultry and rabbits. Anything else and you will need USDA processing if you plan to sell "by-the-cut" or anything but "on the hoof".

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
This cracked me up a bit.... chickens would starve to death. They only eat grass for the sure joy of eating, there is hardly any nutrition in it that a chicken can utilize. To claim "grass fed" in the US, you need to demonstrate that over 90% of the animals food was grass or forage. So this is only possible to label-claim for ruminants (cows, sheep, etc.)

Are you sure he wasn't saying "pastured chicken"? That's the more common term.

 

[blue90292]

Quote:
This cracked me up a bit.... chickens would starve to death. They only eat grass for the sure joy of eating, there is hardly any nutrition in it that a chicken can utilize. To claim "grass fed" in the US, you need to demonstrate that over 90% of the animals food was grass or forage. So this is only possible to label-claim for ruminants (cows, sheep, etc.)

Are you sure he wasn't saying "pastured chicken"? That's the more common term.

oh, quit being technical with me! LOL

you know what i mean. when i googled grass-fed poultry, i found the APPPPPPPPA. okay, the APPPA. lol

 

[nadams4]

I am in NE ohio summit county to be exact.

I contacted the dept of ag. and as far as i know there are no licenses required to:

***sell eggs as long as you have 500 or less laying hens.

***Sell chicken/turkey meat as long as you have 1000 or less birds.

You are not allowed to sell them to grocers or restaurants. Also you must sell them from your store, you can not take the meat/eggs some where (a market) to sell it.

You can also register your farm as a farm market which just assures your customers that you are approved to sell and do not need a license.

OH and you cant sell beef or pork!