How to legally sell egg laying hens in Florida?

[sanchoman]

I have been toying with the idea of selling hens in my area.

Placed an ad on craigslist and had a few more responses than I thought I would.

Someone emailed and asked if they had been "innoculated". I figured this was a big word that most people wouldn't ask so I wondered if this person was someone who knew a thing or two about laws, regulations or maybe even been someone looking to bust someone who wasn't licensed or doing things on the up and up. Maybe I was just paranoid?!?

The ad I placed was a blind ad which means I was only testing to see if there was indeed a market for people looking to produce their own eggs in their backyard.

So, my question is do I need to be licensed through the department of agriculture? Am I required to worm or inoculate the birds for diseases and such before selling them?

Anybody have thoughts on this?

 

[Nava]

first ,
inoculate what is that word??

 

[HEChicken]

Inoculated is another word for vaccinated.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
That's all. I'm a hick from Arkansas and I know it, so I guess it wouldn't be too rare for someone in FL to know it too.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

If you are to become a commercial breeder or hatchery then you would need to be licensed. Most of us all sell birds and eggs locally without poblems. You would have to make sure that poultry are allowed where you live. And as far as I have ever been able to find out, you only need licensing and permits if you sell across state lines. People still do it but they are not supposed to. We have 120 birds on the ground and sold over 600 chicks last year. We posted on Craigs list and also on Ocala4Sale. We have been to swaps and sales where there were people from the Ag department and they were there buying right along with everyone else. We are licensed as a poultry product supply business but not as a poultry farm. We did not need a license from the city nor the county, only at state level and that is just a tax resale number. Granted, the IRS will want you to claim all the income you make off your birds on your tax return as additional income. Last year we had the State Department call us and I got all nervous but they were just looking for a bunch of birds that they could use for research purposes and we didn't have enough for them. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[alicefelldown]

They wanted to know if you had vaccinated your birds against (most likely) Marek's disease. Inoculated is not a big word, and should be a common enough question to anyone selling birds. No one wants to introduce a sickly or possibly sickly bird into their own flock.

Regarding laws and legality however - you will need to check your local county regulations. Quick google searching only shows that you need to be NPIP certified if you are selling poultry across state lines. This is something very important you need to look into before venturing into chicken sales. Here is a list of FL statues relating to poultry. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0583/ch0583.htm

Do not assume that anyone asking questions is 'out to get you' but please do your homework before you start selling birds and / or eggs! We don't want to hear about your chickens being evicted!