Chicken Pluckers?

[preacher1]

I'm interested in a mechanical chicken plucker. I've done some research on the internet looking at making the whizbank or purchasing the featherman pro. I would like some input from people who are using pluckers. What is the best type, brand, size, etc. What price range should I expect to pay. I'm thinking of raising around 30 cornish cross at a time. Any advice, suggestions or recomendations will be appreciated.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

I don't have any plucking equipment yet, but I'm considering building the whizbang. It sure appears to be the best value and looks like it works really well too.

(video of whizbang in use; dead chicken alert)

 

[greyfields]

Everyone I know uses the Featherman pro who self processess.

 

[lynxpilot]

I'm using a Featherman Pro. Near as I can figure, it's very close to an industrial machine as far as function, and I've been very pleased with it. It's somewhat expensive, so I'd recommend it for somebody who's doing large batches for sales. Scalding correctly is the key though. I heat a large barrel of water to about 130 degrees F and scald for about one minute. No burnt skin and the feathers all come off in the plucker.

 

[snugglepup]

But do the legs break while being plucked? I'm still somewhat disturbed by my plucking experience this morning.

 

[lynxpilot]

Yes they do, sometimes. Wings more often. In a batch of 50 doing 2 at a time in the plucker, I probably had 2 broken or disjointed legs and 3 broken wings. Considering the alternative, I wasn't going to worry about it.

The first time we used one, it was amazing. I researched the process as much as I could and did it by the book. They came out incredibly clean, pin feathers and all. Most of them didn't need any manual feather pulls at all. For the very few that did, it was minimal.

Turkeys are a little different though. We had to work on them a little bit after the plucker.

All in all, I couldn't imagine plucking manually in a production operation. The whole task is miserable enough without something stretching it out as much as plucking would. If you're only doing your own, I wouldn't get anything, or maybe just one of those bench top machines. But for your own plus some sales, the featherman can't be beat.