Knowledgebase
Poultry #878438
Asked July 23, 2024, 2:04 PM EDT
Hello, been interested in starting my own very small chicken processing on my land to be able to sell the meat. Been looking into rules and laws and it is beyond confusing for a average citizen. One article I read says I can process myself and sell chicken meat with a operation of under 20k birds per year. Then another article says gotta go through usda facility then another article says you can do it with exemption. I really need someone to shine some light here and guide me to the correct information. I would be very small only up to 1k birds per year.
Saginaw County Michigan
Expert Response
There are several different exemptions under USDA poultry processing. Individuals can only operate under one exemption per calendar year. https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/poultry-processing-in-michigan
In general, it depends on how many birds per year you want to sell and to whom/how. Examples: If you want to sell up to 1,000 birds per year to individuals for their own use, this falls under custom exempt. But if you want to sell up to 1,000 birds per year at a farmer's market or to a restaurant, they need to be processed at an MDARD licensed poultry processor or a USDA inspected poultry processor.
