Do-It-Yourself Poultry Processing

Do-It-Yourself Poultry Processing LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous Back in 1996 David Schafer told FARM SHOW readers about his Amish neighbor s inexpensive chicken plucker and said Somebody ought to develop it Schafer sold $5 plans for a few years but no one stepped up to develop the plucker so he did in 1999 Today the demand for his poultry processing equipment at Featherman Equipment grows by 30 percent annually The heart of the system is that same plucker refined and tweaked by the Jamesport Mo company The difference between their system and more expensive units is the material plastic instead of stainless steel and size Really all you need is the Featherman Pro plucker which sells for $1 049 Schafer says adding it s how many of his customers start out The plucker can do four birds in 30 seconds and some home processors pluck 100 to 200 birds an hour The 125-lb unit is made with a high-density UV-resistant food grade molded plastic tub with 119 plucking fingers powered by a 1 hp motor Schafer says the key is scalding the birds at the right temperature - 147 degrees Scald 4 or 5 birds at a time; put them in the plucker and 20 seconds later they are picked clean Schafer s customers are poultry growers who raise and sell anywhere from 200 to 20 000 birds a year Committed growers invest in more pieces of Featherman Equipment including the Featherman Set-Up Special $3 015 which includes a plucker scalder dunker shackles kill cone stand and eight broiler cones As many as eight people can work together with the system plucking gutting cleaning etc Even the kids can help Schafer says He also sells pluckers for turkeys and game birds non-electric models and chill tanks Everything is available through the company s website which also includes how-to videos I m real proud of the fact that we ve got all these free movies Schafer says I like to provide free information Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Featherman Equipment Co P O Box 62 Jamesport Mo 64648 ph 660 684-6035; www featherman net

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