My Plucker - Version 1 - Video of birds being plucked

[Marlinchaser]

Ok for us SLOWER people (I'm on dial up and cant see video) can you post a couple still pictures of this thing. I have a visual in my head of what I think it is, but dont want to make a sudjestion till I know for sure.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I'll work on pics a little later. What do you care??? You have the Amish to take care
of your birds. Lucky b*stard.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Quote:
Tom the turkey went to visit her this smorning, he will be coming home(in a freezer bag) on thursday

You never know though, I may want to do some of my own one day. AND I am always willing to lend a helping hand, as long as I dont have to get my hands dirty in the process. I am a wonderfull armchair quarterback, and can make LOTS of sujestions to HELP you out.

 

[Chicabee19]

wow. not sure what to say. kinda gross, but i guess better than plucking by hand?

isn't it kinda mean to make those other chickens watch ?!

 

[chickenshadow]

Quote:
This thread is not about the morality or grossness of birds being plucked. It conforms
with the rules of BYC and even has a warning in the title. Please do not provoke a
debate here or with Purplechicken. This thread is meant to be a cooperation of
minds (and there are many great ones on BYC) to produce a helpful tool for many
of us to cull birds. Thank you for your understanding.

 

[perfectly_polish]

The plucker definitely worked much better then hand plucking, a lot faster, and the birds came out a lot cleaner too. The plucker you made with the buffer, worked a lot better then the drill version, maybe because it covered more of the bird at once, or because it was faster? Suggestions for next time? Make the fingers just a little shorter, or buy fingers, it may work better, and we won't keep getting slapped by them

 

[Swamp Roo]

PC, LOL I've had 10+ yrs to "get " familiar with mine!

Cost:
Pillow blocks 2 @ $10
Shaft $15 ish
pulleys $5-$20 each depending probably $10 each average
belt $10-$15
Motor Don't you buy them for $2-$5 at garage sales? Salvaged dryer motors work well too.
Angle iron for frame: free, use thrown out bed rails
Some screws and bolts
Plus what you already have

Add another $20 because you know something will get screwed up!

Of course, I probably have most of that tucked away somewhere already.

Been thinking about using two side by side drums that counter rotate, with the fingers coming "up" out of the valley between two drums. A set of finger boards would be set at kind of a V on top to keep the chicken in the zone. Little more complicated than that but you get the idea. Just chuck in a chicken and wait a few seconds. Automatic, and might not throw a chicken around as much as a Wizbang. Smaller and not as $$$ too.

So, how did you lock the drum onto the shaft?

BTW I thought the shaft was smaller than 5/8. I'd still go bigger if you can for the long term considering the mass and RPM. But then I tend to over build, so it might be just fine if you use real shaft material. A drill should give you around 300-500 RPM? Unless you use a high speed like a hammer drill. I'd be worried about frying the drill though.

Swamp

 

[Swamp Roo]

PP trust me, you'll keep getting slapped by them.

But if you reduce the tip speed it won't hurt so much!

Swamp

 

[perfectly_polish]

Quote:
The other chickens had no idea what was going on, they only thing they were thinking about was getting a fresh meal.

 

[perfectly_polish]

Quote:
Actually it didn't hurt that much, PC was being a baby about it