Tennessee's poultry compliance program has a structural detail worth knowing before anything else: the Tennessee Department of Agriculture is the official state agency for the National Poultry Improvement Plan in Tennessee, which means the animal health program and the NPIP documentation duties run through the same agency that handles egg grading and farm-fresh egg sales. The environmental layer sits separately with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Poultry Log's Tennessee catalog records each requirement with its agency, authority, trigger, retention period, and official source link, reviewed against the TDA and TDEC program portals.
Animal Health Layer: TDA Animal Health
- Importation - poultry, hatching eggs, or other fowl entering Tennessee must meet State Veterinarian importation and health requirements under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 44-16-101 et seq., including a permit, certificate of veterinary inspection, or NPIP and Pullorum-Typhoid evidence required for the class of bird.
- Exhibitions - poultry exhibited at a Tennessee show must originate from a Pullorum-Typhoid-clean or NPIP-participating flock or have a negative test within 90 days of the event, enforced at check-in, with NPIP program status able to substitute for the separate test while the documentation requirement remains.
- Hatcheries and breeding flocks - a Tennessee hatchery, chick dealer, or seller of hatching eggs must participate in the state poultry health program, keeping source, lot, and testing records, with TDA serving as the official state agency for NPIP in Tennessee. Chicks, poults, or hatching eggs for sale must come from clean or NPIP-participating breeding flocks, tested at least annually, with reactors removed.
- Reportable disease and disposal - a suspected or confirmed reportable poultry disease event, including avian influenza, must be reported immediately to TDA. Carcasses must be disposed of promptly by an approved method under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 44-16-101 et seq. and TDEC disposal requirements, with dated records of each event.
Egg Layer: TDA Regulatory Services and Farm-Fresh Sales
Under the Tennessee Egg Law at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 53-2-101 et seq. and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0080-05-04, a person who grades, candles, packages, or sells eggs as a dealer must hold a Tennessee egg dealer license and meet grading, candling, refrigeration, and labeling requirements. The catalog records a distinct producer position: a producer selling only eggs from their own hens, without purchasing eggs from others, may operate with a more limited farm-fresh-egg-sales status rather than a full dealer license, but the eggs must still be clean, wholesome, and honestly represented, and graded eggs must be labeled with grade, size, packer name and address, and pack date, and refrigerated. For poultry processing, a producer must use a licensed or USDA-inspected establishment unless every condition of Tennessee's exemption is met, including processing only its own birds with the required labeling and annual bird limits, keeping slaughter and sales records.
Environmental Layer: TDEC
A poultry operation that is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation must obtain NPDES or state CAFO permit coverage from the TDEC Division of Water Resources before discharging or operating its waste management system, under 40 CFR Part 122, implementing a nutrient management plan and keeping production-area and land-application records. The catalog records the below-threshold position: an operation under the large CAFO threshold (fewer than 125,000 broilers or pullets, or 82,000 laying hens without a wet handling system, or 55,000 turkeys in grow-out) that does not discharge is generally not required to hold a CAFO permit, though designation can change that. Records are kept for the period the permit requires, commonly five years, and covered CAFOs submit the annual report under 40 CFR 122.42(e)(4).
Where Poultry Log Fits
Poultry Log's Tennessee catalog carries these requirements with official source links and form templates, in the same workspace as the daily records that feed them. The NPIP layer connects to the NPIP participation records guide, the egg layer to the wholesale egg dealer records guide, and the CAFO layer to the CAFO permit guide. Neighboring state deep-dives are covered in the Georgia guide and the North Carolina guide. Confirm current requirements with TDA and TDEC; completing a checklist does not certify legal compliance. Start free at poultrylog.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs the NPIP program in Tennessee?
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is the official state agency for the National Poultry Improvement Plan in Tennessee, which means hatchery and breeding-flock NPIP documentation duties run through TDA's animal health program under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 44-16-101 et seq., alongside the state's poultry importation, exhibition, and reportable disease requirements.
Can Tennessee producers sell eggs without a dealer license?
The Poultry Log Tennessee catalog records a farm-fresh-egg-sales position: a producer selling only eggs from their own hens, without purchasing eggs from others, may operate with a more limited farm-fresh status rather than a full egg dealer license under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 53-2-101 et seq. The eggs must still be clean, wholesome, and honestly represented, and graded eggs must be labeled and refrigerated.
What are Tennessee's CAFO thresholds for poultry?
The catalog records the below-threshold exemption as fewer than 125,000 broilers or pullets, or 82,000 laying hens without a wet handling system, or 55,000 turkeys in grow-out, under TDEC's CAFO/NPDES program and 40 CFR Part 122. An operation below threshold that does not discharge is generally not required to hold a CAFO permit, though designation can require coverage.