Kentucky's poultry compliance program runs through three cabinets that each carry deadlines worth knowing by heart. The Department of Agriculture's Office of State Veterinarian handles imports, hatcheries, chick auctions, disease reporting, and mortality; the Division of Regulation and Inspection handles eggs, including a two-cent assessment and an annual recall plan; and the Energy and Environment Cabinet handles water quality plans, liquid waste permits, and CAFO coverage. Poultry Log's Kentucky catalog records each requirement with its agency, authority, trigger, retention period, and official source link, reviewed against the KDA and Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet program portals.
Animal Health Layer: KDA Office of State Veterinarian
- Imports - poultry entering Kentucky must carry an NPIP VS Form 9-3 or CVI under KRS 257.390-257.410 and 302 KAR 20:040 and 20:250. Birds four months or older must originate from an NPIP flock or have a negative pullorum test within 30 days. Avian-influenza restrictions can add testing, permit, container, and cleaning certifications on top of the ordinary entry documents.
- Hatcheries and chick auctions - a public hatchery or dealer in newly hatched poultry or hatching eggs must hold the annual permit when selling at least 1,000 chicks or 3,500 hatching eggs per year, with the permit year running July 1 through June 30; below those volumes the permit does not apply. Chick auctions carry a distinctive two-sided clock: apply at least three days before the sale, obtain inspection and a permit, then report every purchaser and sale to the Office of State Veterinarian within three days after the sale. A public sale by a farmer selling chicks or poults reared on that farmer's own premises is exempt from the auction permit.
- Disease reporting and mortality - an owner or any person with knowledge of a listed reportable livestock or poultry disease must immediately report it to the State Veterinarian under KRS 257.080 and 302 KAR 22:030. Dead poultry must be lawfully disposed of within 48 hours after finding the carcass unless cold-stored, under KRS 257.160 and 302 KAR 22:040, with lawful methods including incineration, prescribed burial, rendering, approved landfill, and regulated composting.
Egg Layer: KDA Regulation and Inspection
Under KRS 260.550 through 260.640, an egg handler must license each place of business, with the catalog recording that effective July 15, 2026, licenses expire January 31. A producer selling only direct to consumers is license-exempt only at 60 dozen or fewer per calendar week. Eggs bought or sold in Kentucky are assessed two cents per 15-dozen shell-egg lot or portion under KRS 260.600(4), with reports and fees due by the fifteenth of the following month unless KDA approves a quarterly, semiannual, or annual schedule, and the fee paid once as agreed by responsible parties in the distribution chain. Every egg packing plant and distributor must submit an emergency recall plan by June 30 each year under KRS 260.610(6), or submit a no-change statement when the prior plan remains current.
Environmental Layer: Energy and Environment Cabinet
Under KRS 224.71-100 through 224.71-140, a landowner with 10 or more contiguous acres used for poultry or another agricultural operation must develop, implement, and revise when needed a site-specific agriculture water quality plan. An AFO with a liquid manure waste handling system must obtain a five-year Kentucky No Discharge Operational Permit under 401 KAR 5:005 sections 24 and 25, with construction or modification requiring a construction permit valid one year before work begins. An AFO that discharges or intends to discharge and meets the incorporated large, medium, or designated CAFO criteria must obtain KPDES coverage under 401 KAR 5:060, and the catalog records Kentucky's structural position: the state does not consider a no-discharge AFO a CAFO solely because of size when it obtains and follows a KNDOP. Large AFOs under a KNDOP run weekly diversion and impoundment inspections, daily drinking or cooling-water-line inspections, and detailed land-application records, retained onsite five years.
Where Poultry Log Fits
Poultry Log's Kentucky catalog carries these requirements with official source links and form templates, in the same workspace as the daily records that feed them. The egg assessment connects to the wholesale egg dealer records guide, the recall plan to the recall and traceability records guide, and the liquid waste permits to the nutrient management plan records guide. Confirm current requirements with KDA and the Energy and Environment Cabinet; completing a checklist does not certify legal compliance. Start free at poultrylog.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast must Kentucky poultry mortality be disposed of?
Within 48 hours after finding the carcass unless cold-stored, under KRS 257.160 and 302 KAR 22:040. Lawful methods include incineration, prescribed burial, rendering, approved landfill, regulated composting, or another approved method, and the State Veterinarian may direct a different disease-response disposition when needed.
What is Kentucky's egg assessment?
Eggs bought or sold in Kentucky are assessed two cents per 15-dozen shell-egg lot or portion under KRS 260.600(4), with reports and fees due by the fifteenth of the following month unless KDA approves another schedule. The fee is paid once as agreed by responsible parties in the distribution chain, and license-exempt producers remain subject to inspection and the assessment.
When does a Kentucky farm need a site-specific agriculture water quality plan?
Under KRS 224.71-100 through 224.71-140, a landowner with 10 or more contiguous acres used for poultry or another agricultural operation must develop, implement, and revise when needed a site-specific plan using applicable statewide-plan requirements, working with the local conservation district as needed.