Featherman plucker... Hallelujah, AMEN!!!

[Mrs MIA]

Hubby got us a Featherman Gamebird Plucker, the one rated for quail...

Talk about a whiz-bang-plucker!!!

Today was our first time using it. We first tried it on a couple of ducks... not so easy, as the feathers were really hard to pull out. Hubby was not impressed, but held judgement until we did some chickens. 30 seconds... wham! Done!

OK... this is good. Now we can process a LOT of birds in one day.

Then we harvested 13 quail... not so good. Coturnix, normal browns, are too small, even with 13 in there at a time. They got caught down between the fingers, and a few got ripped apart. So, we're going to concentrate on larger birds, and turkeys, and just go from there.

That is definitely the way to go if you have a lot of birds.

 

[nzpouter]

did you try the ducks dry/ wet?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
We scalded them first. Even after scalding, they were hard to hand-pluck.

 

[jaku]

Just out of curiousity, why did you buy a plucker rather than build one?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Very cool plucker.


Jaku, in my opinion, unless you have the time, tools, talent, and
patience to build a Whizbang it's better to buy a proffesional plucker
like the one in this thread. I've made 3 small pluckers, one that I
use quite often, but if I was going to go for a bigger and better one
I'd buy a Featherman rather than build a Whizbang type unit.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
I'll agree on the time and tools, but as for talent and patience, I have little of either, and I built a Whizbang for about $300. I guess if you had a professional operation, I could see spending the extra money, but it's a HUGE cost difference, and the Whizbang works great!

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I'll agree on the time and tools, but as for talent and patience, I have little of either, and I built a Whizbang for about $300. I guess if you had a professional operation, I could see spending the extra money, but it's a HUGE cost difference, and the Whizbang works great!

I've heard and read so many great things about the whizbang and
have considered building one many times. My little drum plucker
does a nice job for me especially since we only process 4 birds at a
time now. The drum cost me almost nothing to make and takes
up very little space. On the other hand it makes a huge mess,
only removes 90% of the feathers, and beats the bird up some too.

When I look at building a Whizbang I see myself adding it to my already
too long to-do list and then when I factor in the $300 plus the time
to find the parts and actually building it I'd probably go with a pro
model like the Featherman. This is coming from someone who has
the tools and talent but not the time and patience.

Aww, who am I kidding? I just don't have the room for one and don't need
an excuse to order any more meat birds.

How long did it take for you to build your Whizbang? Did you buy many
parts or were you able to scavenge some?

 

[jaku]

Quote:
I worked on it for awhile- little at a time, so it's hard to say exactly how long. It wasn't bad though, really. The book is very good- great details, pictures, and easy to follow. I bought everything, but got some used, some from the scrapyard, and some directly from Herrick Kimball's website. Mine works perfectly if I get the scald right- clean in 15 seconds! For me, the jump from $300-$1100 is impossible to justify- especially when it does the same thing, and my wife almost killed me for spending the $300. The base/housing on the Featherman looked really nice though. I have a bucket covering my motor, and I just have to hope it stays dry.

 

[Mrs MIA]

OK, folks... this was only intended as a "review" of the Featherman gambird plucker.

We started to build a whizbang last spring... this winter the parts were still just sitting there. Not that my DH couldn't build one, but we just never got around to it. We plan on having a very large operation on meat birds with our business this year, and also plan on renting the unit out, so a) we wanted something professional, and b) we will recoup the cost over this next year. Not that we need to justify our reasons for getting one, or anything.

While I appreciate the input on the whizbang, and don't see anything wrong with it, it was not my intention to do a comparison... only a review. Just in case someone else was thinking about getting one, ya know.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Sorry to go off topic Tori. You know how us plucker people like to gab.
I do think that this thread will be helpful to those considering various
pluckers, pricepoints, and amount of work involved.

I'm impressed by the price of the Featherman compared to other pro
models.

Now let's see some plucking pics!!!!

A movie would be nice too.