anyone use a poultry plucker to process their birds?

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
I know some folks are extra sensitive to the smell of hot wet feathers and find it unbearable. But many more, myself & all the folks who ever processed chickens with me included, did NOT. I wonder if the addition of a few drops of scented dishwashing liquid would help mitigate the affect of the smell. And really, if you get a "good scald" on the bird it doesn't take that long to hand-pluck. Most of the feathers come off like lint out of the dryer trap when you brush your hands down its sides. The scalding is to open the bird's pores. Check out http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-properly-scald-chicken-my-never.html to read about a good scalding technique, which is key to easy hand-plucking on Kimball's site http://www.HowToButcherAChicken.com

The last time I hand-plucked it took about 5 minutes per bird. Except for the one stinker who had a ton of pinfeathers I failed to notice before plucking him. I finished him off by skinning him.

 

[cherylellen]

We've followed Herrick's instructions on scalding and processing and it's worked out very well. If you have the plucker...you can scald 3 chickens at a time and then just drop them right into the plucker. The smell really isn't that bad because you're not having to deal with it very long. We do it outside, too, which helps. Once you drop them in the plucker and have fresh water spraying on them...the smell is gone.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I feel that enough people have advised me that scalding and dry plucking are both a possibility with a mechanical plucker. I will at least attempt dry, before scalding, which I am not completely opposed to, considering that I can have the hope of getting all my yearly chicken cleaning done in one day.
The smell and mess are one consideration for me, but also consider the down. I have a godfather, neighbor, nephew and any # of cousins that all duck hunt. Scalding would mean that I would have to dry some duck feathers later on.