[Shropshirelass]

Out of curiosity how many of you process small numbers of poultry & game birds & sell the meat? I know a lot of people do a few birds for themselves like we do. But we'd like to be able to process a few birds like quail & drakes & the occasional bunch of cockerels just in small occasional batches to be able to sell direct to customers along with our lamb. I know how to rear & fatten them along with slaughter for home consumption. But its a nightmare trying to find any info online for small farmers to find places that process small numbers of birds.

Any ideas? We're based in Shropshire.

[Richmond]

We do. But only sell to friends and family. On the odd occasion a "friend of a friend" may buy something eg a turkey at Christmas. We rear and process approximately 40 chickens and 20 turkeys a year. Half of the chickens go into our freezer for our own consumption.

If you are only talking small numbers why can't you process them yourselves?

[Shropshirelass]

Because you’re not allowed to sell home processed meat to the public. Plus we maybe want to sell online & at farmers markets. But would probably be doing about 10-20 of each at a time.

[Richmond]

For that tiny amount is it really worth the cost and hassle of set up, inspections etc? I believe you need a commercial type prep area/building (not your own kitchen) and dedicated fridges/freezers - I'm guessing you know all this though.

I would think it's only worth doing if you are processing 100s of birds, not 10 or 20.