I need some plucker suggestions

[TOR]

Last year we did 20 at once. A friend brought a plucker over. We scalded them and the plucker had 3 birds featherless in less than 30 seconds. I've had plucked two so far and even taking 15 minutes to hand pluck takes far too long when you're looking at 19 more birds to follow..... This year we will likely have 20-30 birds.

He says he is willing to bring it over, but perhaps you can relate to my feeling of not wanting to rely on other people for help. I have trust issues.

Bahaha I can see that happening at my house.

I understand not wanting to borrow something or rely on someone else.

400 to 500 is the cheaper models. I have a hard time to justify spending 500 on plucker let alone 1000 on a decent one. I am same boat as you 20 to 30 birds. If I could see using a plucker for years to come and doing 50 to 100 birds a year than I could justify spending the money.

Look into craigslist, facebook market place, you might find something used. There are people who make them and sell them. Also from what I understand where I live the county extension has a plucker and can sign up to use it. Now that was 10 years ago though never looked into it.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I understand not wanting to borrow something or rely on someone else.

400 to 500 is the cheaper models. I have a hard time to justify spending 500 on plucker let alone 1000 on a decent one. I am same boat as you 20 to 30 birds. If I could see using a plucker for years to come and doing 50 to 100 birds a year than I could justify spending the money.

Look into craigslist, facebook market place, you might find something used. There are people who make them and sell them. Also from what I understand where I live the county extension has a plucker and can sign up to use it. Now that was 10 years ago though never looked into it.

I'll try to check with county extension. Personally, I would be more than willing to rent it out for $20-$50 (I'd have to feel the market). I am very limited on the amount of free time that I have, so I spend a lot of time balancing price vs cost of my time with any item that I purchase. A plucker is pushing the limits of that scale..... I know if I could find one to rent I would have done meat chickens way sooner (so maybe there are other folks such as myself). So perhaps renting would be the way to make back what I spent on a plucker?

I recall having a hard time justifying a honey extractor and was completely blown away at how much of a game changer the extractor was. Well worth the price! But it was also far less than the plucker.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I can't say enough good things about the yardbird. Around $400 and worth every penny.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I can't say enough good things about the yardbird. Around $400 and worth every penny.

Thank you! I’ll check it out. If it’s worth it, I’m willing to pay $400! We just processed a single roo this weekend and it takes sooooo much longer to pluck by hand and have a clean pluck!

 

[Tre3hugger]

Thank you! I’ll check it out. If it’s worth it, I’m willing to pay $400! We just processed a single roo this weekend and it takes sooooo much longer to pluck by hand and have a clean pluck!

It honestly plucks 2 birds, in 15 seconds, better than I can by hand. The key is a good scald. I had great success right around 150 degrees.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

It honestly plucks 2 birds, in 15 seconds, better than I can by hand. The key is a good scald. I had great success right around 150 degrees.

That’s sort of the time frame I’m looking for. When you process 20 birds, if each one takes only 15 minutes by hand to pluck, then that’s five hours of plucking! Not including any other aspect of processing. I think for the value of my time the plucker would pay for itself in a 3 or 4 years even if I didn’t rent it out. I think I could find someone who wanted to rent it here and there. Maybe a $50 rental fee and a $100 deductible to be returned to the renter when they returned the equipment

 

[Tre3hugger]

That’s sort of the time frame I’m looking for. When you process 20 birds, if each one takes only 15 minutes by hand to pluck, then that’s five hours of plucking! Not including any other aspect of processing. I think for the value of my time the plucker would pay for itself in a 3 or 4 years even if I didn’t rent it out. I think I could find someone who wanted to rent it here and there. Maybe a $50 rental fee and a $100 deductible to be returned to the renter when they returned the equipment

Removing the most stinky, time consuming part of the processing job is worth the ticket price IMO for sure. Now the longest part for me is waiting for the bird to bleed out.
I was also thinking about renting mine, but after using it and realizing its value, I am not letting it out of my sight! lol Seriously though, I would rent it to a friend, but even with the 100 dollar deductible, that stranger just saved $250 on YOUR plucker!

 

[rjmyooper]

This was real informative, for me. At least for now, I don't see doing more than 2 ducks at a time.