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Poultry Processing

Would you like to raise chicken to sell at farmers' markets, your farmstand, through a CSA, or to restaurants, but are having trouble finding a facility that will process your birds? Are you unsure how to do this legally and meet all the appropriate regulatory and food safety requirements?

There is now a viable option to process your own birds for direct to consumer sales in Massachusetts. Under the USDA Producer-Processor exemption (pdf), you can legally process your own birds provided that the facility and process you use meet all USDA and Massachusetts Department of Public Health sanitary guidelines for poultry establishments. New Entry and the New England Small Farm Institute (NESFI) have partnered to develop a regulatory process to approve a Mobile Poultry Processing Unit (MPPU) for commercial use by small-scale poultry producers in Massachusetts. With funding from USDA Rural Development, the Massachusetts Society of Promoting Agriculture, the Massachusetts Agricultural Innovation Center, USDA's SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Program, and the generosity of individual donors, New Entry and the Small Farm Institute have two working MPPUs available for producers who have completed a required training program to lease and use on their farms. The original open-air unit is managed by NESFI in the Pioneer Valley, and the newer enclosed unit is currently managed by New Entry in eastern and central Massachusetts.

The MPPU is a poultry "slaughterhouse on wheels" that travels from farm to farm. Producers can lease the unit to process their own birds on their farm for direct markets, provided they meet all the regulatory requirements and have received appropriate food safety and MPPU operations training. The MPPU comes with poultry cones, a rotary scalder and plucker, chill tubs, hot-water hand wash sinks, and eviscerating stations. The producer is responsible for all labor; electrical, water, and propane hookups; an approved on-farm location; composting or appropriate solid waste and wastewater handling systems; labeling, packaging, weighing; and cold storage. Each producer must apply for a state slaughter license from the Mass Department of Public Health and receive local board of health approval from their town. In four years of operation, Massachusetts farmers have used the two MPPUs to process over 14,000 chickens and turkeys, accounting for over $300,000 total income for small farmers.

To learn more about how you can access the Eastern Massachusetts MPPU or to attend the required MPPU training, please contact Jennifer Hashley at 617-636-3793 or by email at: jennifer.hashley@tufts.edu or Sam Anderson at 978-654-6745 or by email at sanderson@comteam.org.