Food Hygiene

IMPORTANT

Small-scale and seasonal slaughter is subject to regulations additional to those relating to animal welfare at slaughter. These include registration with the environmental health department of the relevant local authority, to ensure compliance with animal health, food hygiene, animal by-product licensing, and collection and disposal requirements.

In addition to maintaining high welfare standards at all times, if you are slaughtering poultry for consumption it is important to maintain high standards of food hygiene. It is recommended that you obtain further information or advice on food hygiene, such as from your local authority department responsible for environmental health, a local poultry club or the government authority responsible for food standards.

A period of food withdrawal prior to slaughtering poultry is often recommended, to reduce faecal contamination when gutting the carcase. The time poultry are kept without food should be kept to a minimum and should be no longer than 12 hours. Water should be available at all times.