We are harvesting 44 white rocks today. I mount three cones on my tractor bucket. I have cut them down to widen the mouths. I put the tractor between the chicken house and processing area.

On the left, a homemade scalder. It’s an electric water tank cut in half with the thermostat replaced with a commercial thermostat (the temperature can be set higher than a residential one) and a replacement element (110V versus 220V.)

In the center is our homemade plucker. It has a spray bar around the top and a solenoid valve that turns the water on when the plucker is turned on.

We process the birds through to ready for the freezer 9 at a time.

I can post detail pictures of the plucker or a video of anyone is interested.

  • jeff
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    1 year ago

    Really interesting. Please post more

    • MapleEngineerOPM
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      1 year ago

      The hose with the nozzle is an absolute must. This one is permanently attached to the plucker.

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What are the plucker knobs from? I’d imagine they would have some give to them or you’d chowder up the chicken pretty good. How much post-processing do you need to do to get the pinfeathers off?

        • MapleEngineerOPM
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          1 year ago

          They’re made of vulcanized rubber. They’re called plucker fingers and I bought a box of them on Ebay.