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Small Poultry Processsing Plants and Services
Small Poultry Processing Plants and Services
A Joint Effort compiled by:
Anne Fanatico, Dana Brandon - National Center
for Appropriate Technology (NCAT),
Jeannette Beranger - American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC),
Skip Polson - Heifer International.
Details about this resource.
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Interest in specialty poultry production is
growing in the U.S. Many small farmers raise poultry with outdoor access, or they
may raise a heritage American breed. Many consumers would like to buy poultry
meat and products from these specialty birds. However, there are few processing
facilities that provide poultry processing services for independent producers.
Very large poultry processing plants are usually only set up to process their
own birds. Therefore, some small meat processing plants have added poultry processing
to their services, or entrepreneurs have built dedicated poultry processing plants.
Since it is expensive to build a processing plant, some producers share resources
and put together mobile processing units. Some of these plants are USDA-inspected
with inspectors are present during processing. If your birds are processed at
a USDA plant, you have various options for selling the carcasses or products.
For example, you can sell to the public, stores, restaurants, across state lines,
etc. Some of these plants are state-licensed plants where inspectors may not be
present during processing, and you may have fewer options for selling the carcasses. Some plants offer special types of processing such as cut-up or further processing
(sausage, jerky), air chilled, kosher, halal, or certified organic.
This list is a joint effort of several nonprofit organizations that assist small poultry
growers. This list was originally started by Heifer International. Please help
us maintain and expand this list. Use our on-line Poultry Processor Information Form to submit or update your entry, or if you are aware of a plant that may want to be listed, please send us an email or call and we will contact the plant.
Related ATTRA publications: Small-Scale Poultry Processing, Growing Your Range Poultry
Business: An Entrepreneur’s Toolbox
Contact Anne Fanatico, 800-346-9140 for more information.
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