That's with a "PL"... Not an "F".





In action.

Where's the OSHA approved guards to protect your peepers from ballistic impact and your fingers from the rotating shaft?

Safety third at our house.

i thought that the boys where the chicken plucker's. that what my grandparents told me

As impressive as all the work you have done is to me I don't think I will put this one on the same level as the house, the man cave, the deck or the coop.


hot drill
bent shaft
bloody knuckles

must be better all thread than the crap in my shop.

Wait until you see it actually processing a bird, then make judgement. I'm processing a batch of 4, then 6, and I have 15 more chicks showing up in 9 days that should be ready for July 4th. Should take about 30 seconds per bird. It is a carriage bolt, not all thread, so it is a bit harder. Also, you don't have to run the drill at high speed, just a medium speed, and pressure you use is imparted on the fingers, not necessarily on the shaft. I'll process in batches of 2 at a time, so even at high speed, the drill should be just fine. If I burn it up, off to Harbor Freight for another $29 1/2" drill.

Doug has a Whizbang plucker, which I may end up building if I like the results from these cornish cross. The first 4 go to freezer camp in two weeks!

You save the high speed for when the naughty librarian steps into the picture wearing nothing but knee high boots.

Must work just fine...

Considering that you've still got all of your appendages attached.

Looking forward to Cornish culinary commentary and pixels after all that cushy living they'll have had. Have any of them been locked out of their new home by your new auto door opener with the days getting longer?

I'll wear some goggle when I take their feathers off. There is some spray involved.

I have to lift the cornish X into their pen at night as they are getting big enough to not be able to negotiate the ramp going up. All the laying hens are making it in and out every evening. We were out late last night and the cornish X had all piled into a Rubbermaid tote I had cut a hole in for just such an occassion.

I'll put out a second tote tonight so that nobody gets smothered, and I may just make them stay out for the next few weeks. They were pretty toasty in there, so unless we have a forecast that says it will freeze, they're going to stay out of the coop. They crap a metric buttload and they are much smellier than the laying hens.

Taking a lunch break, and then I'll get back to installing the electric fence.

I did a hundred one weekend a long time ago. The plucker is the only way to go.

Yeah, I'm not up to that volume, yet. I certainly have the freezer space for it though. Next year I may try a few batches of 25, depending on how things go this year.

Culled a chicken today that got pretty beat up last night by the others. Decided to see how things work.

Love the kid's narration of the whole event

You maybe a redneck if you build your own chicken plucker,just sayin.Who cleans up the mess????.I'd go to the back forty and set up shop for the task.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

+100

Nice work! Plucker and tenderizor, all in one! ....change the attachment and you can use that setup to peel line of a reel lickety-split-like.

I use a hand drill and similar attachment and can pull line off a reel in about 10-15 seconds..

Nice, Andy!
Hey, are you scalding them before plucking?

I use a turkey fryer set up, and a digital thermometer.

my birds get dunked two at a time for 1:30 at 145 F.
when you can easily pull a wing primary, they're ready for the plucker.
I drop two in the plucker, flip the switch and, BAM, naked birds. Hose 'em off as you go. Works for turks, not so great with waterfowl.
With a proper scald, you can just about wipe the feathers off, except for the back.
The plucker gives 'em a bit of a polished look.

I'm actually working on my WSDA "special poultry permit" this year, and next year should have a full on processing facility. That means I'll be able to sell my birds at farmer's markets, on line, or to Sand Island campers...

Where are you getting your feed?
I"ve found a couple places that will deliver in bags, or totes (1/2 metric ton or full tons) for between .19 and .37 (organic)...

Hi Doug,

Yup, my scalder is also my turkey fryer. It is seen in the right side of the frame on the video. 145 degrees for 60 second worked on this small bird. Also pulled the primaries to check.

Good luck on your WSDA cert. No plans to sell mine, but with 10+ years in restaurants, I run a clean efficient kitchen and prep area.

I'm getting feed at a local farm supply store. Usually a bag at a time, and I don't have enough birds to warrant buying by the ton to get the price break. I might be willing to buy 4-10 bags at a time if there was a price break, but until that time my birds are eating Flock Raiser (meat and immature layers) for about $13 for 50#. I'll switch to a layer formula late June as the layers start to come into their own and they stop being freeloaders.

The feed I'm getting is fresh, so we'll see how that goes. Not necessarily in it for the money, as my operation is too small. More for the experience. I'd like to find a local mill where I could get cheaper feed, might even do a half ton, but only if it was when I had meat birds. I don't imagine I'll go through a lot of feed on a weekly basis with 16 full time laying hens.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll have 52 mouths to feed. 16 layers, 9 CX @ 5.5-7.5 weeks, 2 poults (not sure of sex), and 25 day old CX. Sunday is butchering day for some, if not all of the older CX.

The run will be less crowded on Monday, but my office will be packed.

Excellent!
I've raised those CX up to 10 lbs, butchered! That was at about 14 weeks iirc..

Yeah, I've seen pics of birds that age. Small turkeys, they are. Once I put mine outside they got a lot healthier, less panting, and much more active.

Feather mess will go into a basic pile and be added to the compost heap. Wet feathers don't fly so far.

The bird I culled goes on the RONCO rotisserie tomorrow evening. about a pound and a half or two, but it was a runt rooster that never really performed.

SCORE!

It turns out that the local conservation district has a complete chicken processing set up that you can rent for $20. Kill cones, scalder, and plucker. I have mine reserved for the weekend of the 18th of June when my chickens turn 8 weeks!

So, are you saying that all that R&D, manufacturing and testing of the Chicken Plucker was for naught?