Processing & Slaughter

Ensuring the Health of Your Flock: A Guide for Steadfast Farms Customers

​

Before your birds are ready to bring to Steadfast, please pay attention to your Flock’s Heath. All bird owners, whether commercial producers or small flock enthusiasts, should practice good biosecurity. If your birds are sick or dying, it is urgent that you call your local veterinarian, agricultural extension agent, USDA Veterinary Services district office, or State Animal Health Official.

 

Please report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to one or all of the following:

​

Connecticut Department of Agriculture 860-713-2500

Toll-Free: 800-861-9939

 

Connecticut State Veterinarian’s Office

The Animal Health Division (860) 713-2505

 

USDA’s Toll-Free number 1-866-536-7593

 

Upon arrival, your flock will be checked by our staff and then USDA inspector. If there are any signs of illness related to Avian Influenza your birds will be rejected and not processed. Steadfast Farms Poultry Processing & Slaughter LLC is focused on maintaining biosecurity and taking any necessary precautions to avoid contracting or spreading this devastating disease. We hope you do as well.

The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Poultry for Transport to Slaughter at Steadfast Farms

​

Feed should be removed 12-18 hours before bringing the birds to the processing and slaughter facility, or between  12 pm - 6 pm the day before your slaughter appointment.

 

You will receive email reminders the day before your slaughter appointment.

​

When feed isn't removed slaughter is slower and dirtier, resulting in more condemned birds.

 

Water should not be removed until transport!

The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Poultry for Transport to Slaughter at Steadfast Farms

​

Chicken crates stacked on pallets are our preferred method of transportation.

 

All chickens must be in clean stackable poultry crates.

​

If you don't own poultry crates, you can rent them from us for $7 per crate including crate sanitation.

​

You can either pick up crates the evening before your slaughter or transport your birds your way and transfer them into rental crates upon arrival.

​

Remember the USDA Inspector can reject the birds if the crates are not clean.

​

Poultry must be packed not more than 8 to a crate.

​

Please do not fill more as it constitutes a lifting issue for staff and a humane treatment issue for your poultry.

 

Please mark your transport crates with your farm’s name or another distinct marking.

​

Steadfast is not responsible for unmarked crates.

The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Poultry for Transport to Slaughter at Steadfast Farms

 

Some best practices are:

• Use a flatbed open trailer or truck for transit.

• If traveling a distance at highway speeds, please install windbreaks in front of the crate stacks.

• Leave room for poultry to move around and get plenty of air during transportation.

• Keep airspace between crate stacks.

  • Add an empty crate below each stack to give extra ventilation to birds at the bottom.

  • Installing 2x4s on the floor to keep a gap between stacks will help during transit.

• If you must capture birds the night before, make sure there is plenty of airspace between stacks and install multiple fans to keep air moving.

​

Cold and inclement Weather

Consider delivering in a stock trailer or enclosed truck with adequate ventilation. If delivering on a flatbed, make sure to put a solid windbreak up front to reduce significant additional chilling of live birds.

​

Hot Weather + Ventilation

We have heard of several unfortunate D.O.A. events due to hot weather and birds delivered in tightly packed crates without adequate ventilation.

The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Poultry for Transport to Slaughter at Steadfast Farms

 

Poultry should be delivered at 6:30 am on the day of the scheduled and confirmed slaughter appointment.

 

Upon arrival, one of our staff members will meet you on the street or at the beginning of the driveway Bio-Security Line.

 

Please wait for staff before entering the property or pulling in.

 

Biosecurity is very important.

We strive to maintain strict protocols to protect your Flock and ours.

 

You will receive email reminders the day before delivery.

 

Any flock delivered after 7 a.m. will have a late delivery fee added to the invoice, $3 per bird, or at a minimum of $250 + any overtime charges from the USDA for that day's slaughter.

​

There is no customer waiting area on-site.

​

Once you have turned over your Flock to our staff, we look forward to seeing you at the Pick-Up time selected on your intake form. If anything comes up, we will use the number you provided for contact and reach out by phone.

The Art of Packaging and Labeling. Elevating Your Poultry Presentation

 

All the products we process are carefully packaged using either cryo-vac or shrink-wrap bags, preserving freshness and flavor. We use a 4 mil bag for all sizes available and 3 mill when 4 mil isn't available.

 

We use standard packaging sizes, which include:

• Complete Bird

• Single Halves

• 2 Packs

• Family Packs (4 cuts per pack)

• Value Packs (6 cuts per pack)

• Bulk Packs (for Wholesale)

• Family Pack Whole Wings (2-2.5 lbs per package)

• Value Pack Whole Wings (4-5 lbs per package)

• Small Giblet Bag (1-1.5 Pounds)

• Medium Giblet Bag (2-2.5 Pounds)

• Bulk Giblet Bag 5 Pounds

• Bulk Giblet Boxes (for Wholesale)

The Art of Packaging and Labeling. Elevating Your Poultry Presentation

 

Our labels are designed to meet regulatory requirements and include essential information such as safe handling instructions, USDA Inspection bug, processed by Steadfast Farms Poultry Processing & Slaughter, Lot Number, and net weight.

​

Choose from our selection of Simple and Branded Labels, including options for Veteran Owned Businesses. We use top-quality water-resistant labels that will meet your labeling needs with ease.

​

• It's important to note that we must label your poultry product per regulations, even if you're not reselling it, and it's for personal use.

• If you've secured USDA-LSAS approval and wish to include additional labels with product claims (e.g., Pasture-Raised, Certified Organic), these labels must be approved by the USDA before slaughter.

• The approval process can take up to 6 weeks, so plan accordingly.

​​

If you have any questions about labels, don't hesitate to contact us.

Please refrain from printing any labels without prior approval from our team.

The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Poultry for Transport to Slaughter at Steadfast Farms

​

• All Next-Day Pick-up at this time

• (no same day pick up at this time)

  • Next Day After Slaughter 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm​​

​

Please note that staff will not be available to assist you if you arrive outside the designated pickup time and fees will be incurred.

 

We are not liable for your transportation needs.

 

You must provide clean, temperature-maintained transport for your product. Your products will be in our company coolers/freezers, for transfer to your coolers.

 

All poultry must be picked up and transported in a way to maintain 40 degrees F or lower. If you can't prove you'll be able to maintain the cold chain of custody the USDA requires, Steadfast cannot release your poultry to you. Late Pick-up fees will apply and future bookings may be canceled or refused. This applies to any distance of travel.

 

Poultry will be packed in Wax Boxes unless you arrange another method of transport ahead of time.

​

If you would like us to pack in boxes you will provide, please bring them at drop-off. There will be a flat rate of $10.00 to assemble your boxes.

​

Ice when available may be purchased at Steadfast for $5 per 10 lb. bag.

It helps us maintain our ice stocks if you tell us ahead of time you plan on purchasing ice. We don’t stock more than we need at any given time.