Processing - how long does it take?

[homesteader]

Here's the differing criteria for processing. Try to give me an estimated time per bird or some group of birds (i.e. - 1 per 30 minutes, 5 per hour, etc).

- Beginner, plucking by hand after scalding. 2-man team with one killing, scalding and plucking, and one eviserating.

- Experienced, same criteria as above

- Beginner, plucking by hand after scalding, team of 5 people working in an assembly line type fashion.

- Experienced, same criteria as above.

Now how long if I had an electric tub-style chicken plucker?

My wife and I will be processing our 20 broilers in September. We're going to try plucking by hand at first, but might be willing to build our own plucker if it would save considerable time. We also have some friends who are willing to go in with us on some broilers the next time around. They would push our team up from 2 to 5.

Thanks.

 

[justusnak]

Hmmmmm...well....when we processed ours...we did 5. There were 3 adults, one child( 6 yr old boy) ....who loved to be involved with the plucking. We did 5 in about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs. Not too bad. That includes time for me to take them inside, wash and cool them down...then back outside to do the "dirty job" of killing. No one else wanted that job. Its not really a hard process,doing by hand...just messy. Next year, I am going to get 25 at a time....3 weeks apart for a total of hopefully 75 birds.
If you are doing it with 2 people, might I suggest

Person 1 kill...scald

person 2 pluck while 1 kills another and scalds...

then person 1 evisorate the first while person 2 starts plucking another. Keep the chain going...and if you are doing several at a time...try to have a large plastic barrell with CLEAN/COLD ( ice) water...that way when you are done cleaning each bird...toss them in the clean water untill you are done with them all and can get them inside for final prep for the freezer. Good luck. Of course, IF you can get a plucker....do....they are fast and effecient.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's hard to guess... but for me, I take about 1.5 hrs for the first bird and about 30 min more per extra bird. Clean up is the hard part.

 

[boilerjoe_96]

Time.. I am finding about 45 minutes a bird... That is 45 per person hour... Justusnak had 3 adults for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, so the 'man hours' were 3 - 4.5 for 5 birds. Sounds right to me I would like to think I could clean 5 birds in 4 hours... (I do it all by myself.....)

I do spend most of my time on the plucking. I like a clean bird as it has to look like a Grocery bird to the wife. I would say 25 minutes plucking, 20 minutes gutting.

I have not tried skinning, if you could build a good plucker reasonably it would be worth it, IMHO.

 

[spock78]

The wife & I completed 2 in one hour & that was procrastonating the nasty gutting part. LOL!!