"Big Box" Poultry Processing For Small Producers

Big Box Poultry Processing For Small Producers LIVESTOCK Poultry Featherman Equipment’s new “Plant in a Box” is a complete chicken processing plant in an 8 by 40-ft shipping container “The biggest bottleneck to the growth of the small farm pastured poultry business is processing ” says David Schafer Featherman Equipment “Every little town used to have a poultry house for processing birds locally Our Plant in a Box could make that a reality again ” Schafer notes that larger retailers are anxious to add locally grown pastured poultry to their stores Small operations can grow their own chickens and in most states process them on the farm up to a limit of 1 000 head The problem is stores need poultry processed in a USDA compliant facility “We can’t guarantee an ‘approved’ facility because each local inspector has approval rights but we’re comfortable ours is USDA-ready ” says Schafer Schafer worked closely with Dr Greg Sherman a food safety consultant who spent 27 years with the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service FSIS His last position at FSIS was heading up the small plant help desk helping small processors of livestock stay in compliance “Dr Sherman spent hours on the phone with us sharing information at no charge ” says Schafer “He is a super champion of the small guy ” Schafer has already made poultry processing easier on farm Until a few years ago he raised free-range chickens himself In 1996 he submitted an article to FARM SHOW Vol 20 No 1 on how to make a tub-style poultry plucker with the suggestion that someone should make one to sell Four years later he did Today his company Featherman sells a full line of scalders pluckers and other equipment for processing chickens With a full line of Featherman components the Plant in a Box will be priced at just under $100 000 Schafer says that is about a quarter the cost of a bricks and mortar plant The actual processing equipment is less than 8 percent of the total price Costs include the container which has walls and flooring that can be easily washed down and cleaned and an overhead rack to reduce labor and increase worker comfort and ease Cooling processed birds is also a priority “We have a heavily insulated cooler room that can store around 600 chickens ” says Schafer Because the Plant in a Box is designed to set on a slab and is portable Schafer says it is property tax-free However he doesn’t advise moving it once it’s set up “It’s a lot more efficient to bring the birds to a low-cost highly effective operation in one location ” he says He says the Plant in a Box was a natural addition to his product line Like his rotary scalder it’s the result of a customer request He also recognizes that the time is right More pastured poultry producers want to exceed the 1 000-bird limit for on-farm processing “They’re going up against the regulators ” he says “With Plant in a Box they’ll have a better chance of being successful ” To make sure his customers are successful Schafer plans to offer training “There are a lot of things that dictate whether an operation is going to be successful with a processing line ” he says “We want them to be successful ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Featherman Equipment P O Box 62 Jamesport Mo 64648 ph 660 684-6035; info@featherman net; www featherman net

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