Poultry Resources
Raising Poultry
- Alternative Poultry Production Systems and Outdoor Access, ATTRA
- Introduction to Pastured Poultry, Truman State University Agriculture Science
- Organic Poultry Production in the US, ATTRA
- Pasture Poultry 101, Oregon Small Farms
- Poultry 101: for New Poultry Parents
- Poultry, ATTRA
- Producing Poultry on Pasture, UC Wisconsin Extension
- Raising Poultry on Pasture, UC Wisconsin, Madison College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
- Selecting Chickens for Home Use, ANR
- Tips for Incubating and Raising Chicks with a Mother Hen, Ithica College
- Tipsheet: Organic Poultry Production for Meat and Eggs, ATTRA
- UC Davis Pastured Poultry Farm
Genetics:
Health & Welfare:
- Poultry Health and Welfare, ATTRA
- Avian Disease Fact Sheet, VSU Cooperative Extension
- Environmental Stress on Laying Hens, APPPA
- Backyard Poultry Necropsy Program
- Common Causes to Pastured Poultry Mortality and Illness, APPPA
- Poultry Pest Management, Texas Agriculture Extension Service
- Remedies for Health Problems of Organic Laying Flocks, SARE
Housing & Pens
- Creative Growers Portable Poultry Field House, APPPA
- Designing a Mobile Chicken Coop, WPI
- Making a Hoop Pen for Pasture Poultry, University of Kentucky
- Portable Pens for Pastured Poultry, ManagingWholes.com
- Poultry House Management for Alternative Production, ATTRA
- PVC Poultry Pen
- Range Poultry Housing, ATTRA
- Small Scale Poultry Housing, VSU Cooperative Extension
Poultry Nutrition:
- Feeding Chickens, ATTRA
- Pastured Poultry Nutrition and Forages, ATTRA
- Pasture Raised Poultry Nutrition, CS University Extension
- Poultry Feeding, ATTRA
Predator Management:
- Predator Management for Small and Backyard Poultry Flocks, Extension
- Predators of Poultry: Fact Sheet, OSU Extension
Processing:
- Home Processing of Poultry, UM Extension
- On-Farm Poultry Processing with USDA Exemption, UCCE
- Processing Poultry, ATTRA
- Poultry Processing Regulations and Exemptions, Extension
- Small Scale Poultry Processing, ATTRA
- Small Scale Egg Handling, ATTRA
Producer Profiles:
- Label Rouge: Pasture-Based Poultry Production in France, ATTRA
- Pastured Poultry Profile, AGMRC
- Pastured Poultry: The Polyface Farm Model, by Joel Salatin
- Pastured Poultry: A Heifer Project International Case Study Booklet
Marketing
USDA inspection is required at slaughter if you plan to sell your chickens at Farmers’ Markets, to restaurants, grocery stores and butcher shops.
Federal exemption Chapter 9, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 381.10 allows a farm to process up to 20,000 birds if sales are directly from the farm.
If you plan to sell your meat chickens at Farmers Markets, you will need to develop a label that includes: Your Farm Name, Address, USDA Inspection Legend, Safe Food Handling Instructions, Net Weight.
Chickens slaughtered and processed in the Mobile Processing Unit must be sold directly from the farm. A sale at a Farmers Market IS NOT considered a direct farm sale.
Many USDA inspected poultry processing plants do not provide packaging services. If you plan to sell your chickens at a Farmers Market, you will need to develop a plan for safe and legal packaging. If you plan to do this internally, you will need to use a health department inspected facility like a certified commercial kitchen.
It is always a good idea to check with your Farmers Market managers about additional requirements that they may have regarding the sale of meat and poultry.
Additional Information:
On-farm Poultry Meat Processing with USDA Exemption
Selling Meat and Meat Products, UCANR pub 8146
Safe Food Handling, Chicken, USDA (pdf)
Understanding Poultry Exemptions
Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
USDA Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection Directory
Tools and Resources
- Marketing Options, APPPA
- Marketing Options, SARE
- Developing a Brochure, APPPA
- Marketing Poultry, ATTRA
- Record Keeping, APPPA
Budgets:
- Break-Even Analysis of Small-Scale Production of Pastured Organic Poultry, A Pacific Northwest Extension Publication
- Break-Even Calculator for poultry
- Generic Poultry Enterprise Budget #2, Center for Integrated Agriculture, University of Wisconsin/Madison
- Pastured Poultry Budgets: Slow-Growing Broiler and Organic Comparisons, ATTRA
- Pasture Poultry Enterprise Budget, Kansas Rural Center Sustainable Agriculture Management Guide
- Potential for Profit, SARE
- Production Budget: How Much Profit Can You Make?
- Profitability Poultry: Raising Birds on Pasture, SARE
- Raising Poultry for Profit: Small-Scale Production, CSU Extension
Resources
- Growing Your Range Poultry Business: An Entrepreneur's Toolbox, NCAT & KCSA
- The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
- The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
If you are planning to use any third-party certifications for your farm (California Certified Organic Farmers, Animal Welfare Approved, etc.) it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with regulations before you build your farm plan. It is much easier to design a system that meets standards than to try and conform an existing system.