Moblie Poultry Processing Plant
When extension specialist Terry Swagerty at Washington State University was approached by a group of small poultry producers who were looking for an efficient way to slaughter birds for their own use and possible sale to the public, he helped them put together a mobile poultry processing plant.
Starting with an enclosed 8 by 20-ft. trailer, Swagerty and the poultry producers designed a self-contained slaughter plant that contains all the essential equipment: killing cones, a scalder, picker, evisceration station, scales, and packaging equipment.
The trailer is laid out with a dirty room at the back where the birds are killed, scalded and plucked, and a clean room at the front for weighing and packaging. Birds are passed from the dirty room through an access window with strip curtains to the clean room in sanitized food grade totes.
"All work stations are stainless steel, and there's a commercial scale that prints labels," Swagerty says.
A propane-fired Bosch tankless water heater is used for cleaning and sanitizing before and after use. It takes about a 20-lb. tank of propane to process 180 birds.
Much of the equipment on board the trailer requires electricity, which is supplied by the user. "It's wired for 110 single phase power with a 50-amp breaker box, but all we need is a standard 30-amp RV-type plug," he says.
Swagerty started the design process by getting an application from the Washington State Department of Agriculture for a wholesale food processing license and then adapted the trailer to meet all the requirements. "The biggest issue was cleanable surfaces, so that was no big deal," he notes.
Swagerty says one of the advantages they hope to see by using the trailer is lower costs for processing poultry. "The whole idea is to have the farm family develop the skills to operate it and provide the labor. If we have to hire a crew of three or four people, then I think the cost would be prohibitive on a small scale," he notes. He does intend, however, to set the trailer up in a central location and do custom processing for very small quantities, such as a couple dozen broilers for home use. "We'd hire a crew for this and charge maybe $2 a bird or more, but the customer would be able to drop their birds at the back door and pick them up packaged and ready to cook or freeze at the front door about 30 or 40 minutes later.
The trailer is owned by the Community Agricultural Development Center, a not-for profit corporation. He says there's been interest throughout Eastern Washington so he'll probably take it on the road doing demonstrations.
"This was possible only because the USDA exempts processors of 20,000 birds or less from the requirement of an on-site meat inspector," he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry Swagerty, 2220 Highway 25 North, Evans, Wash. 99126 (ph 509 684-5411; email: swagerty@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu).
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Moblie Poultry Processing Plant 27-6-9 When extension specialist Terry Swagerty at Washington State University was approached by a group of small poultry producers who were looking for an efficient way to slaughter birds for their own use and possible sale to the public, he helped them put together a mobile poultry processing plant.
Starting with an enclosed 8 by 20-ft. trailer, Swagerty and the poultry producers designed a self-contained slaughter plant that contains all the essential equipment: killing cones, a scalder, picker, evisceration station, scales, and packaging equipment.
The trailer is laid out with a dirty room at the back where the birds are killed, scalded and plucked, and a clean room at the front for weighing and packaging. Birds are passed from the dirty room through an access window with strip curtains to the clean room in sanitized food grade totes.
"All work stations are stainless steel, and there's a commercial scale that prints labels," Swagerty says.
A propane-fired Bosch tankless water heater is used for cleaning and sanitizing before and after use. It takes about a 20-lb. tank of propane to process 180 birds.
Much of the equipment on board the trailer requires electricity, which is supplied by the user. "It's wired for 110 single phase power with a 50-amp breaker box, but all we need is a standard 30-amp RV-type plug," he says.
Swagerty started the design process by getting an application from the Washington State Department of Agriculture for a wholesale food processing license and then adapted the trailer to meet all the requirements. "The biggest issue was cleanable surfaces, so that was no big deal," he notes.
Swagerty says one of the advantages they hope to see by using the trailer is lower costs for processing poultry. "The whole idea is to have the farm family develop the skills to operate it and provide the labor. If we have to hire a crew of three or four people, then I think the cost would be prohibitive on a small scale," he notes. He does intend, however, to set the trailer up in a central location and do custom processing for very small quantities, such as a couple dozen broilers for home use. "We'd hire a crew for this and charge maybe $2 a bird or more, but the customer would be able to drop their birds at the back door and pick them up packaged and ready to cook or freeze at the front door about 30 or 40 minutes later.
The trailer is owned by the Community Agricultural Development Center, a not-for profit corporation. He says there's been interest throughout Eastern Washington so he'll probably take it on the road doing demonstrations.
"This was possible only because the USDA exempts processors of 20,000 birds or less from the requirement of an on-site meat inspector," he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry Swagerty, 2220 Highway 25 North, Evans, Wash. 99126 (ph 509 684-5411; email: swagerty@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu).
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