Does anyone else work alone when processing?

[Looking4ewes]

I'm new to chickens (and to farming really), and the DH is not quite on board with it all, so I work alone when doing all animal chores, including processing. Frankly, it is taking me FOREVER to finish the job. The killing, scalding, and hand-plucking is not so bad, neither is the gutting, but the final pin feather clean-up is bogging me down. Seems I could spend 20 minutes or more per bird getting all the feathers out. Would an electric plucker help? Can one utilize a drill plucker by oneself? Any tips to speed up processing?

I have 3 more birds to go and I'm done for the winter!

 

[GAchick]

You could skin them instead of plucking...

 

[bigredfeather]

The old timers would light a brown paper bag on fire and singe all the pin feathera off. And yes, an electric plucker would make a huge difference. A whizbang is the ticket if it is fesable. I did 70 of them, mostly by myself, recently in less then 5 hours.

 

[Salt and Light]

I do most, but not all, of preparing, butchering, cleaning and packaging the birds in vacuum bags. My teenage

stepson helps some and my wife assists with the final cleaning. So, I hear your "pain". For me, the biggest advance in my processing is a drill-powered plucker. It's not so much that it get the big feathers, but the plucker really cleans the carcass leaving almost no pin feathers. For me, it makes a HUGE difference in time and effort. I will post a couple pics of my plucker or you can find others on here.

 

[Dogfish]

Have him build one of these. Should be an easy 30 minute project.

http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q233/mesoas/Chickens/?action=view&current=0417001717-1.mp4

It will take care of a bird in 3 minutes, because I am picky. When mounted to that big block, and using a zip tie to hold down the trigger, it is easy for one person to take care of the bird. 4" PVC cap, carriage bolt with the head cut off, two nuts, washers, and split washers, two 36" black rubber bungies, maybe $10 max.

 

[schmism]

We have done 2 batches of birds

first batch was cornish x known for having few feathers and virtually no pin feathers. plucking went really quick in our tub plucker.

our second batch was traditional large breed roo's. they had 2-3x more feathers and i figured pin feathers were really going to be an issue. Either due to age (17-19 weeks) or the tub plucker... there were literally only a couple to pick off each bird.

so what do i take away from that.... our wizbang type plucker rocks!

 

[Looking4ewes]

Okay - I have plucker envy!

 

[FowlDelights]

If it's any consolation it took me 5 hours to do 6 roosters. Plucking is my enemy. I've got 8 more roosters to go.

 

[Kassaundra]

I have heard, not tried myself yet, but going to this spring that pithing the chicken helps make plucking feathers much easier.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Yes, I've run across this statement many times, even if you dry pluck. Wish I had the nerve to try it.

So glad you posted that about the drill plucker. I'm sure the whiz bang in great, but a bit much for those who don't do a lot of processing.