Navigating Wisconsin Laws: The Eggsplanation of selling backyard eggs
As your henventure continues you'll eventually get the eggcitement of collecting and eating your own backyard hen eggs! Unless you are a prolific baker or are Gaston from the 1991 Beauty and the Beast you can end up with way more eggs than you were ready for.
There are many options for managing your newfound eggsplosion including gifting to your neighbors, family, and friends (we highly recommend this), Water Glassing the eggs for long term storage, using them to bake and freeze quiche, or, even trying to sell them, a complicated process we like to call Eggonomics! We don't necessarily recommend getting into Eggonomics due to how complicated that can get, however we will review the laws behind selling your backyard eggs so you are equipped with the knowledge to chick out this option yourself.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (WI DATCP) eggs from small backyard chickens can be sold directly to customers under the rules that regulate small scale producers (under 150 or fewer birds) under Wisconsin act 245. Guidance can be found at the WI DATCP website here DATCP Home Egg Sales & Licensing (wi.gov). There are two ways the eggs could be sold....
- At the site the chickens are raised without a license (aka your home).
- At a farmers market / egg delivery route using a Transient Retail License. Which we will eggsplain later on.
Either way the backyard eggs are sold, the person selling the eggs, called a producer, must still meet some basic food safety requirements listed below…
- Eggs must be sold directly to the consumer, not to a wholesaler or distributor.
- Eggs must be packaged in a carton that is labeled with the producer's name and address, the date the eggs were packed into the carton, a sell-by date within 30 days, and a statement indicating that the eggs in the package are ungraded and uninspected.
- Packaged eggs must be kept at an ambient temperature no higher than 41°F at all times.
WI DATCP has provided an easy to read sheet on labeling requirements that eggs are covered in here RetailFoodLabeling.pdf (wi.gov). In addition to these rules, anyone who sells eggs to a larger licensed company that resells the eggs to retail grocery stores, restaurants, or anyone else must also register as a Nest-Run Egg Producer and Seller. As a bad example that explains the Nest-Run Egg Producer rule well; If you had 2 chickens and sold all your eggs to Kellner’s Back Acres to sell along with their chicken eggs to grocery stores, you would have to register as a Nest-Run egg producer. Since neither you or Kellner’s would do that, because it’s a waste of time, this rule mostly won't apply to backyard hen owners. The exact language is below.
Registration is required for egg producers who are exempt from food processing requirements because they collect, package, and store nest−run eggs from a flock of laying birds owned by the producer. There is no charge for registering. Registration is a useful tool to the department in the event of an animal disease outbreak that requires food safety personnel to contact egg producers. Use the Nest-Run Egg Producer and Seller Registration form to complete the registration process. https://datcp.wi.gov/Documents/NestRunEggRegistration.docx
Transient Retail License for selling at markets and special events
Selling eggs at your own property that meet the food safety requirements listed by WI DATCP doesn’t require a license, however selling on an egg route or at farmer’s markets or special events requires a Transient Retail License. The rules for getting and using a Transient Retail License that would allow the sale of eggs, according to WI DATCP employees Nichole Abbott, Mark Lehman, Charles Bloom, and Daniel Wargolet, are listed below. However, an easy table breakdown will show if you need a Transient Retail License or not.
Do I need a Transient Retail Seller’s permit to sell backyard eggs?
If it turns out you need a Transient Retail License, here is a breakdown of how the license and regulations around it work....
Transient Retail Licenses operate at a fixed location only in conjunction with a special event or farmers market for a period of no more than 14 consecutive days or in conjunction with an occasional (3 day) sales promotion. Important considerations are...
- This license does not allow you to operate outside of special events – if you want to street vend you will need a Mobile License.
- Your WDATCP Transient Retail License will be recognized at temporary events throughout Wisconsin. However, the local jurisdiction may charge an inspection fee. It is good practice to contact the local health department prior to operating in their area. Here in Denmark, we would contact the Brown County Health Department.
- An important note on “Special Events” the special event cannot be hosted by the person selling eggs. For example, it would need to be something like Mainstreet Market is having a 15% off everything sale and have invited a backyard egg producer to sell eggs outside the building.
1. Know your regulation:
- You will need a cooler or refrigeration that can keep the meat at 41°F of less and an indicating thermometer.
- Read ATCP 75 – Wisconsin Food Code Chapter 10 that applies specifically to temporary restaurants. Wisconsin Food Code: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/atcp/055/75_/ ATCP 75: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/atcp/055/75
- Egg Sales and Licensing: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/FSEggs.aspx
- Eggs must be packaged in a carton that is labeled with the producer's name and address, the date the eggs were packed into the carton, a sell-by date within 30 days, and a statement indicating that the eggs in the package are ungraded and uninspected.
- Food Code Fact Sheets including #23 Retail and Mobile Temporary Food Service can be found at https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/FoodCode.aspx
2. What can I serve:
- Transient Retail No Processing allows you to sell packaged food that requires temperature control for food safety. Examples of this might be packaged meat or cartons of farm eggs.
- You are not required to have a licensed base in conjunction with this license but all food must come from an approved source (except for farm eggs, food must be made at a facility with a food license), be able to be stored at the correct temperature and be labeled correctly.
3. Apply for your license:
- Complete a Transient Retail –No Processing Application. You will be applying for the $45 license.
- You are not required to have a licensed base in conjunction with this license but all food must come from an approved source (except for farm eggs, food must be made at a facility with a food license), be able to be stored at the correct temperature and be labeled correctly.
- Complete the Weights and Measures Fee Application (unless not required because you are located in one of the cities listed on the form).
- If you are applying as an individual/sole proprietor also fill out and include the Social Security Form.
- Mail the application(s) and payment to the PO Box in Milwaukee that is at the top of the application form.
4. Know the WI DATCP contact info:
- WI DATCP Phone an Address: (608) 224-5012 WI DATCP. (608) 224-5058 (TDD for hearing or speech assistance) 2811 Agriculture Dr. P.O. Box 8911 Madison, WI 53708-8911.
- WI DATCP egg website: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/FSEggs.aspx
- WI DATCP egg related email address for support: DATCPDairyGraders@wi.gov
- Brown County Health Department phone and address: (920)448-6400. 2198 Glendale Ave Green Bay WI, 54303
- Brown County Health Department licensing information and help webpage. https://www.browncountywi.gov/services/business-licensing/
For further information, to stay legal while selling backyard eggs, if you are selling the raw shelled eggs at farmers markets in a county that has its own health department that requires licensing you have to apply for their Transient Retail License and register with WI DATCP. If you are selling in multiple counties and any of them has a health department with it’s own Transient Retail License, you will need the WI DATCP and the County Transient Retail Licenses to cover all your bases. If you only sell in counties that use the WI DATCP Transient Retail License, you will only need the state Transient Retail License. As an example, lets say you only sell raw unshelled eggs at a stand at your home and at the Denmark Farmers Market. Since Denmark is in Brown County Public Health Department’s jurisdiction and Brown County Public Health Department has its own transient seller’s license for selling eggs at farmers markets you will need to call the Brown County Public Health Department’s phone number (920) 448-6400 and leave a voicemail asking to apply for the Transient Retail License for farmers markets. Brown County Department of Public Health does not have an online form. You will also have to register with WI DATCP, but you won’t need to pay for the state license. Below we have made a chart to explain the different scenarios to make this complicated system easier to understand.
Please remember, these state and county laws are separate from and do not supersede local, municipal, and zoning laws. If a municipality does not allow the raising/keeping of poultry or the sale of eggs from backyard hens within their jurisdiction, then it is still illegal to sell the eggs within the bounds of that ordinance’s jurisdiction even if the owner meets the criteria of USDA, WI DATCP, or their county health department.
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