Has anyone used a Yardbird Chicken Plucker?

[Glos Girls]

We are thinking of getting a Yardbird plucker from Farm & Family this week, looks good and it is local. So no shipping & it will be here when we buy it. Tried to check out the weight it would hold but all it states is 2 birds..no weight limit.. ugh.. Anyone ever used a Yardbird Plucker? Would be great if it would do a turkey!!! Raising our first ones this year, have, six Giant White & two Bronze. (which I caught strutting yesterday..lol so darn cute, they are only a month old & already strutting.. you men!!! lol Thanks for reading..

 

[DJinWI]

I have one and used it the first time this past weekend. I did 15 birds, it will do two at a time and seems to work best with two, one bird gets stuck once in a while which I've read happens with other pluckers as well. Most of my birds were 7-8 lbs live and the plucker handled two at a time easily. It comes apart and cleans up with no issue. As far as a turkey it maybe a little small for a large one. So far I'm very pleased with it I never used a plucker before and it cut our time way down. It seemed like I spent more time cleaning up than I did butchering chickens. I think it took a little over an hour to do 15 birds not counting setup and clean up.

 

[Glos Girls]

That is great news! Thank you so much for your input. I feel much better about purchasing one now. We have 43 coming up at the end of the month and were not looking forward to doing them by hand, the last 11 we did a few weeks ago was enough for my hands..lol I love the country life but .. yes, give me a plucker & I imagine old farmers would have chosen to have one if they could have. Think we will be doing our turkeys by hand though, don't think we want to process them at a small weight. Thanks again

 

[Chef JimmyJ]

I have not used one but have done extensive research on pluckers. This model is only 1" small than the units in the same price range but has a heftier motor and is gear driven verses belt driven. These are both good features when it comes mechanical equipment that gets wet. My biggest concern with this plucker is the Small hole the feathers are expelled through...I would like to know if there are any clogging issues...JJ

 

[DJinWI]

I put a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom I use for mashed feed under the hole and didn't have an issue, but I only did 15 birds. It's something to keep an eye on I did pull a pile of feathers out of the way towards the end, but the bucket was getting full. I'm not sure how the others work, but I would think it's something you have to watch on those as well. If you just let the feathers fall on the ground it would take a long time before I think it would become an issue. I just would rather keep an eye on the bucket and dump it around 3/4 full to keep the mess down.

 

[Bigshooter]

I built a whiz bang style plucker last year for cheap. And it works great. No more hand plucking for me.

 

[Glos Girls]

As far as plucking, the Yardbird is fantasitc, very pleased.. Only had one problem, at the base of the drum the water leaked out pretty bad. Thinking maybe too much water pressure, at least the is what we are hoping. Did you have any water leak from the base?

 

[Dewyman]

I bought a yardbird chicken plucker in 2022 put maybe 200 birds through it and the thing quit. I took it to an electrician who said the motor in no good. Theyuse aluminum wiring for the windings and they burn out many many problems! The electrician said he’s seen quite a few of them gone bad. I would avoid the yardbird chicken plucker.