So....I ordered a featherman plucker today...

[Justin]

Placed my order for a Featherman Pro today. Does anyone here have one that they rent out? I'm just curious to the problems they may have encountered with renting it out. (Like borrowing anything out) I would like to make a little bit of the money back and offer people the opportunity to use it, but I'm a little gun-shy of getting burned. What say you all?

 

[jaku]

I thought about that with my Whizbang, but even at $300, I'd be afraid of it getting wrecked.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I ordered one too, I won't be lending it out though.... it cost an arm and many chickens.

However, I'm thinking of processing for a few people though. I want to charge $3-4 / bird to make my money back times a few.

Good luck.

 

[CARS]

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Geez, last year I paid $2.00 a bird from the processor and decided to do it myself this year because I thought that was too much! I guess it depends on your area though.

 

[zephyrcreek]

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I've had so many calls from people looking for a processor, that I am thinking about doing the same. We have a processor that has been in business for years and only charges $1.45 a bird. They are only about 10 miles away, but they cannot keep up with demand. Everyone calling me waited to the last minute, and now cannot get an appointment. I'm just not sure of the "legal" stuff. That's the part that worries me. It would be a nice service to be able to provide to the customers that buy chicks from me though.

 

[RoosterGeek]

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Yeah, I know thread revival...sorry!


How is your plucker holding up?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I opted to do my own instead of custom processing, a few thousand birds later it still is working like the day I bought it. I keep good care of it, stays inside and gets cleaned after every use. Worth every penny and then some.

 

[PotterWatch]

We aren't allowed to process for anyone else (USDA regulations), so I haven't looked into renting out our equipment. I would be concerned about getting everything back and in good condition. I think the only way I would want to rent out our stuff would be if I were there the whole time it was being used.

 

[bigredfeather]

After I totaled up the $ I had in my Whizbang, I considered renting it out. After thinking about how much $ I was going to save doing my own processing, I came to the conclusion it would pay for itself after doing 250 birds (which was 2 years and over a 1000 birds ago).

 

[Oregon Blues]

The biggest risk would be not getting it returned. Then damage, and beyond that it will often not be properly cleaned.

Rental yards take your credit card info and they will bill you for damage. Maybe you could get set up to accept credit cards. There are services where you can use your cell phone to accept credit cards.

Be sure to have a written rental agreement.

Perhaps a small risk, but it is possible to carry disease home to your own flock if someone processes unhealthy birds.