House of Raeford

House of Raeford, doing business as House of Raeford Farms, Inc., Columbia Division, operates a poultry plant at 410 Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia, Lexington County, South Carolina. The establishment holds FSIS establishment number P687 and is listed with poultry slaughter and poultry processing activities under a grant of inspection dated September 3, 2020. FSIS classifies the plant as large, with a slaughter volume category of 5.0, the highest band in the federal record. No custom-exempt activity is reported.

The company website describes House of Raeford Farms as a family-owned and family-operated enterprise with five generations involved, tracing its beginnings to 1925 when Mary Sue Johnson began raising turkeys in her backyard in Rose Hill, North Carolina, where the corporate office remains. The company describes a vertically integrated chicken business covering hatcheries, feed mills, farms, and plants, and states it has focused on chicken products for more than 60 years. Search results refer to the West Columbia site as the West Columbia, SC Complex, and one secondary listing associates it with the Columbia Farms name.

Sales are organized into a Foods Division for further processed chicken, plus foodservice, retail, export, and school nutrition channels. The website also advertises online pre-order chicken sales with drive-up loading, with the schedule posted on the company's preorder page. Details specific to the West Columbia plant, such as local hours, tours, or plant-level contacts, are not on file beyond the federal record and the corporate website.

The federal record lists this establishment as a large poultry slaughter and processing plant with no custom-exempt activity reported, so it is not described as a custom or per-head processor for outside producers. The company website describes a vertically integrated model in which House of Raeford raises its own birds through its hatcheries, feed mills, and contract farm network. Growing opportunities, booking, minimums, or fees for independent producers are not stated in the sources on file. Growers seeking information would need to contact the company directly at (803) 794-8440 or through the corporate office in Rose Hill, North Carolina, at 910-289-3191.

House of Raeford operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

The website advertises online pre-order chicken sales, described as paying in advance with staff loading the vehicle at pickup, with an up-to-date schedule posted on the company's preorder page. Product lines listed include fresh chicken, which the site states is gluten-free, and further processed items such as breaded nuggets, grilled fajita strips, and rotisserie chicken, sold under the House of Raeford, Speedy Bird, and Filet Of Chicken brands. A retail counter at the West Columbia plant, halves or quarters, home delivery, and shipping are not mentioned in the sources on file.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.