Plucker question

[fresheggs4u]

I just bought a stainless steel barrel type plucker. I did my first test run of it tonight using one bird.
The hen was about 2 1/2 years old at least. I scalded it in 145 degree water bath for several minutes and did a test pull on a tail feather.
I then scalled it again and again and again and the feather never really seemed to want to come out.
So i went ahead and threw it in the plucker to see what would happen. Well it plucked fairly well except for the back. The wings did great. The tail didnt do so well.
So i scalded again and processed and not luck, so i did it again, this went on for about 15 minutes. Finally the bird was plucked, all but a few on the tail.

Is this normal. Why did my scald not work? Did the water going into the plucker defeat me. Since it was cold.

No skin was broken. Will younger birds be easier to pluck? This was a red mutt.

I have 30 CX birds coming on the 23rd and wanted to see how this was going to work out.

Any suggestions? I thnk the scalding is where i am lacking.


Sorry for the rambling.

Thanks!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Click here for some great info on getting a proper scald. Your water may have been too cold, or the bird not dunked long enough. I test the wing feathers, when one just slides out easily, I feel it's ready to pluck.

 

[HickoryGuy]

What type of plucker did you buy? I've been looking at the EZ Plucker, but it's a good bit of coin.

 

[fresheggs4u]

I bought the EZ Plucker. It's really nice, but pricy. I purchased the one with the water line in it. I had to add the plumbing to include a valve and water hose connection. That way i can attache the water hose and turn it off and on. I did notice tonight that the water sprays out of the unit, so i think i will adjust the inside water line to point down more. The other think i will change is replace the wheels with larger ones. The two inch wheels dig into the ground. If it's on a hard surface it would be ok. But mine will be used in the yard. Overall I am well pleased with it.

 

[chickens friend]

When I process I have the water at a rolling boil and keep it there, dunk the chicken in there and keep it there for about thirty seconds then pluck, most feathers come out with a plucker except the flight feathers, and some tail feathers you will need to hand pluck these. As a tip or response to HICKORYGUY I built my plucker out of a section of 3" pvc pipe, two pvc caps, a joint of galvinized pipe, a electric motor, a belt and pulley, two bearing blocks, and commercial available plucker fingers. I just processed 14 birds and it worked great, it cost about $100 to build it all, and what looking I did I could not buy any plucker for under $300. hope this helps all of you.

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[fresheggs4u]

doesn't the boiling water cook the bird? i actually plucked two bird manually a few weeks ago. The first one took me almost an hour to pluck. I left the burner on and the water was almost boiling for the second one and it plucked really easy. I did tear the skin in one place tho.

 

[michelle43]

I just finished slaughtering 50 meat birds. I used water heated between 145 and 148 degrees and dunked the bird and swirled it a bit for about 30 - 45 seconds and then tested a wing or tail feather. If it didn't come out EASY, then I re-dunk for 20 seconds or so and tested a feather again until it came out EASY. I built my own tub-stlye plucker (the Whizbang Chicken Plucker) and made sure to pluck 2 birds at a time. In order to do that, I scalded 2 birds at a time. You need to pluck them warm and run a hose over them as they spin. It should take no more than 20 seconds for the bird to pluck in the plucker. If it takes longer, than the scald may not have been right.

I myself slaughtered, scalded, and plucked 40 chickens in 2 hours, including setting everything up. The proper scald was the key to my success. Now, cleaning the birds took me another 4 hours....that was the exhausting part! I hope this helps. If not, you should google Kimball Merrick. He has a great blog on how to properly scald and process your meaties.

Good luck to you!

 

[stillstoked]

Quote:
do you know where i can find plans for this type of plucker?
thanks

 

[chickens friend]

To stillstoked and anyone else who would like to know. I don't know of anywhere you can get plans to make this kind of plucker, you tube has many pictures and videos of this type of plucker but as far as I know no plans for them. I came up with the plans on my own out of my head and just went for it. If you like I could compile a list of materials, some plans on how to do it, and if I can figure out how may be able to get you some pictures. If anyone would like to know how just give me your E-Mail address and I will see what I can do.

 

[terri9630]

I would love to have some pictures and directions. Anything to make chores easier.