EZ Plucker

[CritterCatcher]

we bought the EZ-169 as we had 100 Meat chickens and 20 muscoys to do...... we watched the video and it looked really good ...so I oredred ours and had it shipped to Ontario,Canada and paid the customs on it.....and THAT THING IS GREAT... 3 scalded birds (finished weight of 6-9lbs) takes about 20 sec... and there as clean as the processors...the ducks took a second quick scald and back into the plucker for another 15-20 sec... I can scald and pluck quick enough to keep 4 people cleanning them...

i would give it a 5 out of 5.
CC

 

[Mrs MIA]

Pluckers like this are worth their weight in gold if you do more than 20 birds a year.

We bought the Featherman Pro a couple of years ago, before we saw the EZ plucker. We love it. If the EZ is anything like it, you will love it.

 

[RoosterGeek]

It looks as though they are well built!

Their website isn't so hot. I wish it would tell more about the company.

I may pick one up in the spring. I'm thinking about renting it out as there appears to be more interest in this area for home processing. I've read that most folks charge 25 bucks plus a refundable 50 dollar deposit.

Does that seem reasonable or too expensive?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
We get $50 for the first day, $25/day after that. No one has balked so far... it's worth it when you have 20 or more birds to do.

 

[RoosterGeek]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Quote:
We get $50 for the first day, $25/day after that. No one has balked so far... it's worth it when you have 20 or more birds to do.

Cool. That makes sense as most processors charge, what, 3 bucks a bird to just pluck and clean?​

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
We get $50 for the first day, $25/day after that. No one has balked so far... it's worth it when you have 20 or more birds to do.

Cool. That makes sense as most processors charge, what, 3 bucks a bird to just pluck and clean?

We charge $2.00 per chicken, $5 per turkey, to come and use the equipment when we're having a "Plucker Party". Anything over 25 chickens is worth it to just rent it from us and do it yourself.

I need to re-evaluate those prices, though...

 

[tagra123]

You can make one for about $10.00 using a drill.

We made one and used it on 50+ chickens last year and it's beats hand plucking. About 1 minute per bird including the time it takes to remove the missed feathers.


I made one just like the one in the link below.

http://survivalfarm.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/chicken-plucker-home-made-less-than-10-00/

It is a sewer end cap a colt for the drive that is connected to the drill with holes filled with t shaped tarp straps and it only took about a half of an hour to make.

 

[Whizbanger]

The EZ plucker will probably do a fine job. The price is certainly cheap enough. However, I would like to point out a potential drawback to any already-made plucker compared to one you make yourself. As a mechanical device, a plucker is going to have wear and tear, and eventually something is going to wear out or break. When that happens with a "storebought" plucker you will have to go get replacement parts from the manufacturer. Will they be available? Will they be available at a reasonable price?

If you make your own plucker following the Whizbang design you will be using commonly available components that are put together very simply. If a part goes bad, you will be able to easily find a replacement. And if you built the plucker yourself, fixing it will be very easy.

Also, if you build your own plucker, you can outfit it with top-quality Kent C-25 plucker fingers which have a well established (50+ years) reputation for effective plucking and longevity (due to their natural rubber formulation). I'm sure the EZ plucker does not have these fingers.

I admit to being biased when it comes to mechanical pluckers because I am the guy who published the Whizbang Plucker plan book. After 8 years, with more than 20,000 copies of the book sold, and many thousands of homemade Whizbang pluckers in use all over the world, I can tell you the Whizbang, if properly made, is a very effective plucker and a real workhorse that you can depend on to get the job done—for years to come.

Best wishes,

Herrick Kimball
www.WhizbangPlucker.com

 

[guitari609]

I made a drum type plucker myself using the parts from an old attic fan. It took me about half a day to make, as a temporary stop gap until I can get my Whizbang made. I used a piece of 4" pvc with fingers, very similar to this model:

It worked GREAT once I perfected the scald. I could pretty much pluck a chicken in 30 sec or so, with the exception of a few on the tail, and the bigger feathers on the wings. I could pluck those in maybe another minute. I was previously plucking by hand, at a rate of close to thirty minutes per bird....if you aren't planning on doing tons of them, this model is pretty inexpensive, very easy to build, and quick too. I'm building a whiz-bang, because next year I'm going to be doing a couple of hundred birds.

Oh, and if you are going to build something like this, rpm is VERY important....starting off I didnt have it run through a pulley....dumb I know....@1725 rpm those fingers make hamburger out of a chicken. Mine ended up at around 380 rpm and worked excellently, I was very pleased.

Oh...and I hated that ezplucker website...very clunky. Killing cones: It might not be the most perfect way, but instead of buying cones for $20 or more each, I made might out of coil aluminum that I had laying around. The work just fine for backyard purposes.

 

[DelcoChix]

Just happened to see your question about the EZ Plucker and I thought I'd share my experience with one, and Peter Ho, the owner...won't go into the boring details but Peter's video for the
Model #151 on their website was taken (by my dh) at our home last September (http://cconly.com/video_4_ezplucker)....and I can't say enough good about Peter and the product.

We are totally new to the meat side of chickens, dd decided she was ready to try for last years fair and lo and behold, raised a dozen meaties, took three to the fair (and she placed third out of 30!) Well, we had 9 leftover so I ws trying to plan ahead (since we have less than zilch experience with this sort of thing) While buying a coop from Peter I started to look at the pluckers in his display room, and of course,, asking questions since I'd never seen one in real life. He offered to come out and process ours so he could have a video of the new plucker (Like I'm going to think twice about that generous offer?)...anyways, a sunny Saturday afternoon last fall he came out and in less than 2 hours had totally processed 27 meaties (4-H friends joined in with their extras!) pretty much solo, although we helped at the end of the process...the plucker was amazing. I've got no prior experience to compare with but in my opinion it did a great job. I know he said (repeatedly) that the scalding temp was key to successfully removing the feathers and it took a couple of birds before he got the right temp (really nifty propane heater for the water). Once that was set, he'd place three birds in the killing cones, one smooth slice, let them drain into a tub underneath, then place two in the water, check them by plucking a couple of 'test'feathers, then put them both in the plucker--hosing them as they spun around, and voila--just like the grocery store...well, except that I know how they were treated for their entire lives, what they ate, who took care of them, and how their lives ended of course.
I know that the website isn't perfect but I can say that the product and the owner are both great. I don't know if we'd ever raise enough meaties to purchase a plucker, but if we did I know where I'd get it from. He also rents them out for folks who want to do a weekend of processing as previous folks mentioned.
Just thought I'd share our experiences in case you were still thinking about buying vs. making one (for those of you who are handy with creating them--you gifted ones!)
Now I just hope he has another model he'll need to video this fall...could I possibly be so lucky??