Broken wings/legs from plucker?

[Bluff Country Chicken]

A buddy and I built a whizbang. I've had some wings and legs get "broken." By this I mean the bones break through the skin. Does anyone have any advice on how to prevent this? Fyi...we used a 3/4 hp farm duty motor. Everything went according to plan when we built it except we added too many fingers on the sides. I was wiring the motor while my friend was drilling holes. Instead of four columns of fingers, he basically made it so the side walls are totally covered with fingers. Maybe the extra drag created by this is causing the problem? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[bigredfeather]

I think this happens to everyone. Out of 50 birds, I usually have 3-5 of them that have broken bones. I have figured out that when I see one just spinning around the outside of the tub instead of tumbling, I kinda pulsate the plucker on and off a couple times to slow it down. It has helped some. I seem to have more trouble with smaller birds. Also, plucking 3-4 at a time seems to help.

 

[Bluff Country Chicken]

Does any extra care need to be given when cooking? I'm assuming it's just an aesthetic thing but thought I'd check with folks here.

 

[al6517]

Broken bones and tearing skin are not uncommon but can be limited somewhat by these few tip's.

Scald at the proper temp
make sure your pluckers gear reducer is correct
plucking fingers come in different rigidness, softer fingers will tear more skin
use a foot peddle device to pulse the tub speed and re-position the bird in the tub
if a the bird get's caught in a too wide of a space between the tub and the feather plate that will tear a bird up
a few chugs of vinegar in the scald water will tighten the skin against the muscle and reduce tearing and won't effect the flavor

 

[PotterWatch]

We too get a few birds out of every batch with a broken wing or leg. Much more likely to happen if we only have one bird in the plucker. It is just appearance though, nothing wrong with it and no need to cook it any different.