Power Egg Washer Ideal For Mid-Size Producers

Power Egg Washer Ideal For Mid-Size Producers LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous “We produce between 300 to 400 dozen eggs a week and I recently purchased the Power Scrub II Washer Overall we are very happy with the washer and believe that it will pay for itself in a couple of years ” says Linda Quella who operates Q Farms in Sharon Conn with her husband James With the help of their team they raise a variety of livestock on pasture for direct sales and sell eggs from 600 to 750 laying hens “We previously had a separate candler and washer that were very inefficient ” Quella says She discovered the Power Scrub at an APPPA American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Conference and she hasn’t been disappointed “It’s one of the first times a manufacturer built something targeted to this scale ” she says “I would invest in it at 500 chickens or less It’s easy to set up and isn’t too big so it can fit in a variety of places The machine is ready to use and clean up is easy so I can wash when I have the time - sometimes in 2 or 3-hour sessions and over the course of the week I get all my eggs washed in 6 to 8 hours per week ” With the time she saves she estimates the $7 500 machine will pay for itself in less than 2 years Generally she washes by herself and her procedure is to candle 10 dozen eggs at a time then wash her hands to package the clean eggs that come back to her on the turntable It’s even more efficient if you have 2 people washing She made a few observations about how the Power Scrub works • “While it says it can wash 3 500 eggs per hour we do not find that we have enough scale to become that good at catching cracked eggs or packing that fast ” she says A variable setting allows her to adjust the speed according to how much cleaning the eggs require and if she is working alone or with a helper • Overall the eggs are clean; cracked eggs through the machine are minimal and it has a great packing station • “We’ve had some mechanical issues For example the gears that run the conveyor broke and they shipped us out replacement parts immediately but we were down for a couple of days ” she says • “I like to really clean our egg wash machine and this one isn’t the easiest to get to all the nooks and crannies ” she says adding “I am probably too particular!” Overall she recommends the Power Scrub to other egg producers for small to mid-scale farmers “I haven’t seen a comparable small scale machine available in the U S ” Quella notes Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Linda Quella www qfarms net Power Scrub www powerscrubeggwasher com

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