Buy Local Food In Kitsap

Have you ever thought about raising a few chickens, ducks, or turkeys to process and sell?

Maybe you’ve cleared a little property and have some room to raise poultry or maybe it’s something you’ve been interested in for some time but haven’t had an opportunity to look into what it entails.   Chickens and turkeys for market can easily be raised in just one short growing season though processing them for market for a small grower has often been a problem…until now.

Turkey Poults- Photo by Michele Gilles

But as of this year, you have an opportunity right here in Kitsap County with the Kitsap Poultry Growers Cooperative to find out all about how it can be done including use of processing equipment if you become a member of the Coop.  And this month is a good time to get started if you’re interested in raising market poultry.

The newly formed Kitsap Poultry Growers Cooperative meets once a month on the fourth Thursday of the month and will be meeting  tomorrow night (March 25) at 6:30 p.m. in room 406 at the Norm Dicks Center in downtown Bremerton.  It will meet every fourth Thursday at alternate Bremerton and Poulsbo locations and April’s meeting will take place at the Poulsbo-North Kitsap fire station.  The Coop has been formed for producers and consumers who are dedicated to promoting locally grown poultry in Kitsap County and surrounding areas.

Featherman Equipment Poultry Processing

Michele Gilles and her partner, Stuart Boyle, started raising chickens and turkeys just last year on their Silverdale property.  They are enthusiastic founding members of the Coop. This year they plan to have two growing seasons for both chicken and turkey market poultry.  They’ll  be raising a variety of heritage turkeys to see which grow best for future crops and plan to have around 20 available in June another 20 in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

Tom Turkey - photo by Michele Gilles

“Each poultry meat farmer must have his or her own WSDA poultry processing license and where and how you can sell depends upon the type of license,” says Gilles, who suggests getting in touch with the Washington State Department of Agriculture to get more information on licensing.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has a new Small Farm and Direct Marketing Handbook and Section 6 is titled “Poultry Processing Marketing Regulations”.  It’s available online at http://www.agr.wa.gov/Marketing/SmallFarm/DOCS/6-PoultryProcessingAndMarketingRegulations.pdf by calling (360)  902-1876  or by e-mailing foodsafety@agr.wa.gov
.   The WDSA Food Safety Program is also available for one-on-one technical assistance  including help with facility design, water source and food safety techniques.

Full, associate, and consumer memberships are available in the Kitsap Poultry Growers Coop and one of the biggest benefits for associate and full memberships will be the ability to rent the Coop-owned Featherman Pro poultry processing equipment at very reasonable rates. Having this equipment available will be of particular value to the smaller meat poultry producer.

Cute Chicks - Photo by Sue Edwards

“Our equipment presently consists of killing cones, a scalder and plucker,” says Gilles.

Other Coop benefits include: educating poultry producers and consumers, developing markets for locally produced poultry products and clarifying laws and regulations affecting locally produced poultry. The group’s next big project is finding a trailer that can be fully equipped to use as a mobile processing unit.

Gilles says broiler chicks can be purchased for an average of about $2 each at a feed store and baby turkeys for about $5 – $6. Chicks can be ready for processing in as little as 8 – 12 weeks so even a small farmer could raise several crops.

“Even if you’ve never raised poultry before, come to our meeting – it’s a great opportunity to learn about it and see if you might be interested in pursuing it further” says Gilles.

More information on the Kitsap Poultry Growers Coop can be obtained by calling (206) 396-4250, e-mailing michele.gilles@gmail.com or writing to them at P.O. Box 779, Silverdale, WA 98383.