Plucking-machine or by hand??

[KimBlake]

I am new to meat birds, and have 35 Cornish X just about ready. I've loved this project so far and hope to do many more.

This is my first butchering of meat birds and I am wondering if the pluckers damage the meat at all. The videos I've seen make the pluckers look so violent. It seems like it would hurt the skin and meat, at the very least bruise the meat.

Can anyone shed some light on the subject please????

Thanks!!!

Kim

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The pluckers are violent but save SOOOO much labor. I haven't had them do any damage to the meat.
I taught a couple processing classes. A friend loaned me her plucker which does 2 birds at a time. I had everyone pluck one by hand and the rest we did with the plucker so everyone would understand the value of the mechanized plucker.

 

[toto65]

I used a plucker last year for the first time and although I had 2 broken wings, (they got caught in the plucker) I will never pluck birds by hand again. Even though we did one bird at a time it took less than 30 seconds to pluck a bird CLEAN!

 

[KimBlake]

I've been searching the area for anyone that has a plucker for rent or borrow, but no luck so far. This may be the flock we pluck or skin and the next one I will get my own plucker.

This has been such an enjoyable experience for me that I look forward to the next batch!!

Kim

 

[Meca]

We have done processing both ways. We ended up buying a plucker and so far we love it. It saves us so much time!! It might be a great investment if you plan on raising a lot of birds.

 

[LilyD]

I agree with the comments so far. Doing one or two and plucking by hand is fine but when I increased the number of birds we were doing to over 30 we needed a plucker.

I have the tub plucker and yes it does seem violent. Some of the larger birds will break a wing or a leg in the plucker but it's the difference between 30 seconds and 30 minutes ( I am a very slow hand plucker) of time per bird for me. With it I can do 30 birds in about 3 hours from live to cut up in pieces. Without it I start at 5 am and am still going at dusk. For me it's totally worth it.

 

[wholehearted]

We love our plucker! If I am doing more than a few birds, I get it out. We do occasionally have broken legs or wings, but I have noticed no difference in the meat. No way I could hand-pluck 35 birds and we prefer to keep the skin, so skinning is not a good option for us.

Have you checked this page for places that rent pluckers? http://featherman.net/rentals.html

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree with the comments so far. Doing one or two and plucking by hand is fine but when I increased the number of birds we were doing to over 30 we needed a plucker.

I have the tub plucker and yes it does seem violent. Some of the larger birds will break a wing or a leg in the plucker but it's the difference between 30 seconds and 30 minutes ( I am a very slow hand plucker) of time per bird for me. With it I can do 30 birds in about 3 hours from live to cut up in pieces. Without it I start at 5 am and am still going at dusk. For me it's totally worth it.

My experience exactly./

 

[KimBlake]

Thanks Everyone!!

 

[Meca]

We just bought one for $100.