Beginning Poultry – Do you have questions about raising a back yard flock?
By Jon Moyle, Ph.D., University of Maryland Extension Poultry Specialist
It's Cheaper To Buy It From The Store
Expense
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Birds come with expenses: Birds Feed Housing
- Also, if you want eggs and you start with chicks, it will be about 6 months before you get any eggs
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Big companies buy feed by the truck load so it is cheaper
- Feed costs more when you buy it by the bag
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Big companies control the environment where birds are housed so they spend less energy on staying warm or cool
Poultry Are An Excellent Choice When Starting a Livestock Project
Cheap to Start
Poultry have several benefits
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Small
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Relatively inexpensive
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Easy to acquire
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Don't require a lot of land
You need to Register Your Small Flock
Rules
Federal law exemption:
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Slaughter less than 20,000 poultry per year of own production for intrastate sales. Prohibited from selling adulterated product.
States have their own requirements:
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You must obey them, so look them up!
Everyone that sells eggs in MD must register with the state
- A producer/packer who keeps 3,000 or fewer chickens and who sells eggs only from those chickens must register annually, but is exempt from paying the registration and inspection fees
- All shell eggs sold, donated or delivered in Maryland must be graded
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