Whizzbang Chicken Plucker

Several years ago, Susan, Dear Susan gave us a set of plans to make a Whizbang Chicken Plucker.  It looked mighty interesting, but was rather dear to produce, so we have never gotten around to it.

Earlier this summer, we sold surplus layers to some new homesteaders.  A couple of weeks ago, they called and asked if we wanted to borrow the WCP they had put together.  Susan and i jumped on the chance to give it a whirl (pun intended.)

This sucker is AMAZING!!!  It is worth EVERY pretty penny it costs to put it together!!!

When we butcher, Susan can pluck a bird in about five minutes.  Takes me closer to ten.  Or fifteen.  Depends on how much caffeine i have ingested, and how much we are talking.  Which is usually a LOT.  Anyway, split the diff and let's say it takes Susan and i together a total of 15+/- minutes to pluck two birds.

Now, i never timed it, but Susan said it was about a 15 SECOND run, and i am perfectly comfortable saying that two birds were completely plucked in under 30 seconds.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Squeamish alert:   dead naked bird pictures to follow

So here it is...

The fingers inside the drum and on the spinning plate are about three inches long, and are flexible.

First ya gotta scald the birds (this would be after you have bled them out,) just like you are going to do when you pluck by hand. 

Then you turn on the motor and the plate on the bottom starts spinning at lightnin' speed.  You drop two scalded birds in there, and then start hosing down the sides of the drum to keep the feathers from clogging everything up.  There is about a 1 inch space between the edge of the plate and the wall of the drum, so the feathers just fall right down below the drum, out of the way and piled up for easy clean up.

The birds go whizzing around, and miraculously stay down at the bottom of the drum.

In just SECONDS, they are feather free.  As Ellie May used to say..."They nakey!"

The part that blows my wee small mind, though, is that the birds are not bruised, and the skin is not torn.

Works on ducks, too!!  The ducks did require a little clean up, but we think the water wasn't quite hot enough on the scald, so that may have been the problem.  Nonetheless, it was still SIGNIFICANTLY faster and easier than doing it by hand.

 Next week we are gonna try in on a goose. Will letcha know how that goes.

 

The sad part of this story is that we have to send the Whizbang Chicken Plucker back where it came from.

 

Shucks.

 

Thanks, Miki!! Sure do appreciate the opportunity to give it a test drive!