Poultry Processing

On-Farm Processing

Consider slaughtering and processing arrangements early on, because commercial processors that handle relatively small numbers of birds are hard to find. If you want to sell through grocery stores or to restaurants, you typically must process in a government-approved facility, but those who sell directly to the public may be able to slaughter on farm under a federal exemption.

Tom Delehanty, the New Mexico farmer, cautions that a fledgling poultry producer be sure to have lots of help with strong stomachs if they choose to process on the farm.

“You can’t do it alone, and if any members of your family or people you hire are going to have a problem with the pace of the work or with killing, plucking and gutting chickens, you’d better know about it before you ever get started in the business,” he said.

For a typical on-farm dressing operation, you will need:

• kill cones;
• a scalder (to loosen feathers), purchased or constructed;
• a plucker to remove feathers;
• stainless-steel tables for eviscerating;
• running water for washing;
• plastic tubs or a stainless-steel tank to chill carcasses prior to packaging; and
• supplies such as sharp knives, ice, bags and
• gloves for sanitation.

Joel Salatin and his family continue to process up to 20,000 broilers each year on farm, a practice that has worked well for other farmers as well. Using equipment similar to what is listed above, Salatin works on a concrete slab beneath a simple corrugated fiberglass roof. Salatin’s waste water is then pumped to the farm’s vineyards for nutrient-rich irrigation.

“My family and I have worked out the best way for us to do this, and we’ve got it down to a science,” he said.

The most important judges of the quality of his dressing operation, Salatin said, are those who help him do the processing, and his customers. “Our customers pick up their orders from a site right next to where we do the processing, so they can see for themselves how clean it is,” he said. “If they don’t like what they see, they won’t come back.”

Disposal of Solid Wastes

Salatin composts the feathers, guts, heads, feet and blood of the broilers he processes. He admits it takes some skill and experience, but said he is able to manage his compost piles so that odors and pests aren’t a problem, even at the height of summer.

Oregon farmer Robert Plamondon, who raises about 800 free-range layers and 2,000 broilers outside the town of Blodgett, does the same, sprinkling hydrated lime on his compost heap after each addition to both reduce odors from the decaying organic matter and to repel pests such as flies, raccoons and even other chickens. Salatin incorporates wood ash, as well as lime. Both Salatin and Plamondon use the compost to amend the soil in their garden plots, as well as to help fertilize their pastures. Spreading the compost on the farm makes sure that the money spent on feed stays on the farm and ultimately does not go to waste.

Other producers who live close to metropolitan areas with upscale and ethnic restaurants can sell feet and heads to chefs who use them to make soup stocks. Some resourceful producers have found that by grinding the poultry heads, backs, feet and organs, they can turn low-value, or typically wasted, parts of the chicken into a highly demanded, raw pet food product that can be sold for a good profit to pet lovers.

Cooperative Mobile Processors

To provide farmers with affordable alternatives to on-farm poultry processing, groups around the country are bringing slaughtering to the farm. Mobile poultry processing units (MPPUs or MPUs) are becoming a popular solution to the nationwide lack of poultry processors that work with independent farmers.

Twelve farm families in Michigan collaborated on a mobile processing unit in a project partially supported by SARE. The unit, built in 1999, cost about $20,000 and called for about 360 hours of labor.

Rick Meisterheim, of Michigan’s nonprofit Wagbo Peace Center, coordinated the project. He reports that the 12 producers contributed together about $11,000 toward the cost of the unit, and agreed to a yearly membership fee of $25 and a 25-cent charge per bird processed.

For the Fischbachs in Wisconsin, “Processing was a problem from the start,” said Jason, “and it always seemed to be the bottleneck.” The family teamed up with the other members of the Pasture Perfect Co-Op to build a mobile processing unit. Processing on farm, the net gain per chicken triples compared to hauling to a state-licensed processing center. “Once we joined together, everything changed for the better.”

With three other Nebraska growers, David Bosle bought a mobile processing trailer in a cooperative effort. The farmers and others in the community share a trailer equipped with killing cones, a scalder, a feather picker, a scale and an evisceration area. The processor, purchased with help from Nebraska’s Center for Rural Affairs, which received a SARE grant, allows the four farmers to share the cost of processing. They also rent out the mobile unit to other farmers or, at a discount, to community groups like 4-H.