Gloves for plucking by hand

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't think that plucking by hand is the worst part of the butchering chore, but today I found a way to make it go even faster & easier. I had often heard that using those knit gloves with the rubber dots can be helpful, and today I proved it to myself. Included as a bonus with a recent order were a pair of these http://www.qcsupply.com/clothing/gloves/77105-pvc-dot-string-knit-gloves.html so I tried using them while plucking the 4 capons I butchered today.

I was VERY impressed with the way they made the job go faster & easier. After a good hot scald (I dunk about 10 times in 150 degree water) I hung the birds by their tied-together legs and just wiped away the feathers with the gloves. It was like removing the lint from a dryer trap. These gloves also helped me get a good grip on the tough wing feathers so they pulled out very easily. Even the big thorny pin feathers popped out easily when I just scraped with my gloved fingertips against the grain.

Of course these gloves will get wet very quickly as you work on the wet feathers. I kept latex gloves on under these cotton gloves to keep my hands dry, so they wouldn't get all prune-y or chapped. If you have a lot of birds to do you may want to have more than one pair of these knit gloves to use, so you can hang them to dry when they get really heavy & wet and use a fresh pair.

Who needs a mechanical plucker? Instead, spend your time & energy devising a machine that will automatically suck out the guts in an instant!

 

[al6517]

Sounds good, I myself don't use a plucker although I process many birds at once it seems to go by pretty fast, this glove idea is a good one I may have to try, and I allready have a few pairs of them in the barn.

AL

 

[redhen]

good info to know!!

 

[Weatherby93]

HELP!!!!!!!!! I am in the FFA need to do an SAE. i am going to raise chickens and sell the eggs. what is the best type of laying hen i can get, and about how old do they need to be.

 

[poultryfan73]

Quote:
The best egg layers would be White leghorns for white eggs or for brown eggs the Red sex links.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I am usually able to get most of the feathers off by hand in around 5 minutes. I usually have to do the processing by myself, and rarely do more than 6-8 birds at a time. I don't mind the plucking part of the job, but these gloves made it go even faster & easier than ever!

Now I want to find or devise a type of latex glove that has gripper bumps or ridges on the palms & fingers, and flat claws on the ends to make the gut-pulling go faster & easier. Or find a helper who would say "Oh this is my favorite part of the chore, you do the dispatching & plucking and leave the rest to me!"

 

[Arcnadius]

I talked to my mom the other day when she asked if I had my chickens yet. She remembered how much fun she had as a little girl plucking the feathers during butchering time. I know who I'm gonna call when it comes time to send birds to freezer camp!

 

[speedy2020]

One thing processing by bare hand the small feather (down) tend to stick to the finger. Is this type of glove prevent that from happening? How easy it is to wash the feather off the glove?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It was easier to shake the feathers off these fabric gloves than from the latex gloves or the bare hands. I use a wipe-wipe-shake sort of technique. The fabric gloves do absorb water from the wet feathers but that really doesn't affect their effectiveness, just makes them heavier. I wore latex gloves underneath to help keep my hands from getting prune-y. If I were going to pluck a lot of chickens on one day I might use a few different pairs, and hang up the wet ones to dry.