The prevalence of Listeria spp. in the skins of poultry legs (drumsticks), wings, and whole livers, representing 160 packages, three national brands, and purchased from three supermarkets in Davis, California was investigated first. Overall, Listeria spp., L. monocytogenes, L. innocua, and L. welshimeri were present in 40.6, 13.1, 26.3, and 1.3% of the chicken parts. For L. monocytogenes spp. the overall prevalence in the skins of wings, drumsticks, and livers was 10, 15, and 14% and varied extensively with sampling day. Next, we evaluated the presence of Listeria spp. in 12 locations and products collected from a slaughterhouse during four visits. A total of 188 samples were analyzed. No Listeria spp. were isolated from feathers (5 g composite sample from 10 birds), scalding tank water overflow (25 ml), chiller incoming water (25 ml), neck skin (5–9 g), whole liver after chilling, and cecum and large intestine content (1 g) samples. Listeria spp. were present in 18.8% of feather picker drip water (25 ml)...