Do-it-yourself punching fingers for a feather picker

Owners of private houses almost always maintain farmsteads and especially love to raise poultry. But from the moment when tiny yellow balls run around the yard, causing tenderness, to a huge dish with an appetizingly fried chicken, some time passes, filled with the hassle of caring for and raising and, by the way, in this interval there is a period when the bird has to be slaughtered and pluck. This process almost plunges some subtle natures into a deep faint, but, nevertheless, it cannot be avoided.

Plucking with your own hands, even for villagers accustomed to any kind of work, is not only an unpleasant task, but also quite lengthy and tedious. If you have to process two or three carcasses, then that’s all right, but if you need to slaughter a dozen or two chickens to load into the freezer or take to the market, then the work may take all night. And if we talk about farms, where hundreds of carcasses have to be processed, then we cannot talk about manual labor at all. And the industry, of course, took care of automating the plucking process and launched special feather picking machines on the market.

Homemade feather removal installation

You can pluck chickens by hand, but you can mechanize the process.
Designed and manufactured a feather removal installation for a regular customer. It is designed to automate the process of de-feathering broilers, laying hens, roosters, turkeys, geese and other farm birds.

It works on the principle of a centrifuge. The lower disk rotates while the drum is stationary.

The installation consists of a frame, a working drum, an electric motor, a bearing unit, and a belt drive.

Frame: welded, made of metal angle. Working drum: diameter 600 mm, made of food-grade polypropylene. Purchased from a store. Disc: made of food grade stainless steel. The installation uses commercially available pen removal pins designed for household pen removal machines.

The advantages of this installation: low cost, ease of maintenance and repair.

Technical characteristics of the installation. Dimensions: length - 1000, width - 700, height - 1200 mm. Number of punching fingers: 110 pcs. Motor: single-phase 220V, 1.5 kW, 1500 rpm. Attaching photo.

The quality of processing is perfect. Carcass processing time is 20 seconds.

It is known: on the farm, it is preferable to buy equipment that has a variety of functions. For example: if you buy a loader, then it must perform various operations in agriculture: load semi-liquid, solid manure; grain, etc. Including, used as a tap. There is a unique tool - a drill-mixer, with which you can drill, prepare a concrete mixture, prepare holes for posts, mix paint, etc. I adapted this drill for no-moldboard tillage - installed it on a homemade electric cultivator, with which you can , without ruining the soil, loosen the soil using the “papillonage” method. By installing a professional drill-mixer with an adjustable speed on a homemade feather removal unit, you can improve the quality of processing poultry carcasses.

Questions:

Equally suitable for birds of all sizes? (From quails to turkeys?) Or should the drum sizes be different for each type of bird? What is the lifespan of these rubber fingers? Wouldn't it be better to make the structure lower, since the height of 1200 mm is not very convenient for work? With such dimensions, how can you clean the installation after work?

Answers:

Regarding the size of the container for different birds. It’s clear: each bird must have its own container size and “its own” fingers. Regarding the resource. I don’t know - I was not involved in the operation of these installations. It’s clear: if you purchase “branded” fingers, the resource will be greater. When purchasing, use paper. If you draw a finger to install it and a mark remains on the paper, then it is better to refuse the purchase. Regarding the height of the structure. The height of the structure can be made significantly smaller. The plastic container has a specific shape. If you cut off the bottom of the container and install a stainless steel tray underneath, the height will be reduced by 150 millimeters. You can cut off the top by 100 mm. You can reduce the distance from the shaft to the zero mark by about 100 - 150 mm. But, the installation was made according to the customer’s requirements at exactly this height. Regarding cleaning. The unit must be cleaned after use with hot water from a hose.

Feather removal machines for fast but gentle poultry processing

The operating principle of these devices is based on the increased friction force between the tail and the rubber pins of the rotating working body. In the process of movement, these parts seem to pull out feathers and down behind them, without deforming the skin of the bird.

There are two types of feather cleaning units. The first, with an external arrangement of fingers on a small-sized drum. This scheme is used in compact devices and removable devices mounted on a drill or screwdriver. Among the advantages of this option:

• low price;
• ease of storage and transportation;
• mobility and autonomy;
• You can take the attachments with you when hunting.

A feather removal machine, which is a large volumetric rotating drum with internal fingers, works much more efficiently. The advantages of this arrangement are obvious:

• There is no need to hold the bird in your hands and move (turn) from different sides for cleaning. The carcass placed inside rotates chaotically inside and is automatically processed from all sides.
• unlike devices with external working bodies, the likelihood of injury due to carelessness is minimal;
• An important advantage of cleaning poultry inside a closed drum is the absence of feathers flying in all directions. The workplace will remain clean and no additional time will be required to clean it.

Useful functions of the unit

Automatic feather removal machines operate on exactly this principle, but at the same time they provide additional functions for pre-treatment of carcasses with hot water and removal of feather material.

There are many units for removing feathers that work on a similar principle, but differ:

• internal volume of the drum;
• the size (length/thickness) of the fingers and different types of corrugations on them (ring grooves, round spikes);
• drive power;
• speed of rotation of the working body.

All this affects the intensity of the force exerted on the plumage and skin of the bird. The correct selection of these parameters ensures clean cleaning and leaves the surface of the carcass without signs of mechanical impact. Therefore, manufacturers provide the ability to adjust the speed of rotation of the working body. In addition, the hitting fingers themselves are made removable and easily replaceable. You can purchase from us their different modifications, differing in the degree of elasticity and installed for processing large or small breeds of poultry.

Our specialists will help you understand the variety of models of feather removal machines for birds. Their advice will allow you to buy the unit that is most suitable in terms of price and technical characteristics. Here on the website you can submit an application, choose a convenient payment method and specify the need for delivery.

Choosing fingertips

Hello dear farmers! In this article we will look at how to choose the right type and calculate the number of strikers for making your own feather picker or drill attachment.

First, let's look at what beat fingers are (or simply beats, pen fingers).

A hammer pin is a rubber part shaped like a regular pin, with a seating groove from 10 to 25 mm and a length from 50 to 300 mm, depending on the purpose and installation location. The beaters remove the feather due to the frictional force generated when there is contact between the rubber and the bird carcass. They have different shapes of the working surface depending on the type of feather being removed and the type of bird.

The main characteristics of feather fingers are: shape, length, bore diameter, tensile strength, Shore rubber hardness, elasticity and color.

The shapes of the beats are:

To choose the right type of plucking fingers in shape and size, you must know what kind of bird you will be plucking: quail, broilers, chickens, ducks, geese or turkeys.

For quail you need a small finger up to 50mm long and a landing diameter of 10mm. The quail is a small bird, so it is necessary to exclude the possibility of the bird getting stuck between the fingers. If you use fingers 90-100 mm long, the carcasses will fall between the fingers, or these beaters must be installed very often with a minimum distance between them. And this significantly increases the number and, accordingly, the price of purchasing fingers.

Boilers, chickens and turkeys have mostly small feathers, for the removal of which ball-shaped fingers (or spheres) with a length of 90-100mm and a fit with a diameter of 20mm have proven themselves.

Waterfowl ducks, ducks and geese have large feathers, for which ring-shaped fingers (or a ring) with deep ribs, 90-100 mm long and a landing with a diameter of 20 mm work well for plucking. The distance between the ribs of the beel corresponds to the thickness of the pad of the lower part of the feather, which holds the feathers in the skin of the bird.

In order to pluck different birds on one machine, we recommend combining the beating fingers with spheres and ring fingers in equal proportions.

For household centrifuge-type feather removal machines, soft fingers with a value of (48-55 Shore units) are used. In this type of equipment, the bird hits the finger under its own weight; if it is hard, the likelihood of skin tearing increases significantly. For beating drums and feather pick-up attachments, it is also better to use soft fingers, because... It is very difficult to accurately calculate the hand strength with which you need to press the bird to your fingers.

For industrial conveyor lines, stiffer pins with a value of (60-70 Shore units) are used.

The elasticity of rubber is the ability of rubber to quickly return to its original state. In our case, this is the ability to quickly return the finger to its original state when bent.

White rubber fingers have the greatest elasticity. We recommend using it for plucking young poultry. Another property of white rubber is its pleasant smell.

In order to correctly calculate the required number of pins, you need to know what type of equipment they will be installed in. Simply put, decide what you will make: a poultry plucking attachment, a beating drum or a feather picker?

Feather fingers can be made of rubber of varying tensile strength. This value can be from 10-25 mPa. The higher, the more expensive the original rubber and, accordingly, the longer the service life of the finger. For this parameter, select fingers based on the number of poultry heads slaughtered per year. If you slaughter up to 500 pieces/year, take any finger. For large numbers of heads, it is better to take fingers with high strength. This value does not affect the quality of pen removal.

The technological process of removing feathers from a bird also depends on several factors:

• Rotation speed of the feather removal machine or drill attachment;
• Temperature and time for scalding poultry before plucking;
• Choosing the right type of striker fingers.

We hope that this information will help you quickly and efficiently make your own feather picker, poultry plucking attachment or beater drum.

Households very often breed poultry for meat (ducks, geese, broiler chickens, etc.). At the same time, the plucking process is not easy and not very pleasant. It is precisely in order to save owners from such an unpleasant task that a feather removal machine was invented. For use at home, you can make a feather removal machine with your own hands.

What to make a feather plucker from?

Principle of operation:

• A chicken carcass, previously scalded with boiling water, is placed in the container.
• The bird picker is plugged into the mains.
• After switching on, the bottom begins to rotate. The carcass, jumping, hits the ribbed rubber fingers. Feathers fly off her.
• The result is an almost perfectly plucked chicken, duck, goose, and so on. All that remains is to remove the small feathers on the paws.

The poultry plucker can handle almost any poultry - you can use it to pluck chickens, ducks, geese, quails, and turkeys.

Before assembling the device, draw up its drawings - they will help you take into account and calculate all the nuances of the design. What washing machines might be useful? Any automatic or semi-automatic washing machine that meets the following conditions:

• it must be working;
• with vertical loading.

Washing machines such as “Oka”, “Fairy”, “Malyutka” are suitable as “raw materials” for bird pluckers. Don’t worry - the carcass in the plucker will not be damaged and will not lose its presentation: the rubber fingers are soft enough and will not cause harm.

Assembling the feather removal machine consists of several stages. First, remove the motor from the washing machine body. It is important to take into account this point: when the device is operating, water will be supplied to the tank. Since you will have to make holes in the bottom for the beaters, the water flowing down will fall on the engine. This must be prevented. Perform the following actions:

• Remove the bottom and remove the engine.
• Remove the activator with the drive.
• They take out all the electrical “stuffing”.
• Place a rubber hose on the shower head - you will need it later.

Let us next consider the assembly procedure step by step.

The drum in the bird picker should rotate in one direction. If in the washing machine it rotates alternately in different directions, you should reconfigure its operation to the correct mode. How to do it? Disconnect the body and bottom and connect the wires in the correct order. The ends of the wires are connected to the power cord. The washing machine has a hose. It is not needed in the bird picker, so it is cut off. The hole is sealed with sealant.

Creating holes

When the hose is removed and the wires are rearranged, they begin to connect the bottom of the structure to the body. Remove the screw and plug from the drum. Then, having dismantled it, they begin to create a device equipped with “fingers” - you need to attach ribbed elements. Procedure:

• The holes are drilled with a drill. You will need a special drill - a stepped type. The dimensions of the holes depend on the beaters - they are made 3–4 mm smaller to strengthen the fastening.
• When the plucker rotates, feathers and water should come out of it. To do this, additional holes are made between the holes for the beats - larger ones. Some kind of vessel is placed below to receive waste.
• To facilitate the installation of rubber “tentacles”, the holes under them are smeared with machine oil.
• To protect the engine from liquid ingress, a special protective housing is made. It is made from a plastic container.

Assembly

• A steel corner is used to create a support for the motor.
• Connect the engine to 220 V.
• A metal frame is welded from the corner - the body of the device should be at a distance from the ground.
• The pulleys are installed - they are also taken from the washing machine. The small one will be placed on the motor shaft, the large one on the activator shaft.
• The pulleys are connected by means of a belt so that the engine transmits movement to the activator and the bottom of the chicken picker rotates.
• Check the strength of the fastening of the housing and the motor - they will experience strong vibrations and, if the fastening is unreliable, they may simply fly off.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with Making the roof of a house with your own hands

This completes the assembly. All that remains is to install a hose with a shower nozzle, prepared in advance, on the edge of the tank to water the carcasses with water.

How the devices work

Before you start making your own device, you need to understand the principle of its operation. A pinching machine is a container with rubber pins. These fingers have a special surface that can grab feathers and pull them out. Thus, without any effort, you can get several processed carcasses in a matter of minutes.

Such devices are available in several modifications:

1. With a centrifuge. Round or vertical triangular containers with punching fingers inside. The bottom unwinds at high speed, the carcass also begins to spin and gradually becomes free of feathers. To increase efficiency, a small amount of water is poured into the device - it will protect the carcasses from damage and wash away all excess. Small birds (quails, chickens, ducks) are loaded into it. It is not profitable to use them at home, so other types are suitable for households.
2. With a drum. Here the motor drives the drum. The fingers are located only on the outside. The person must hold the bird close to the rotating rotor, constantly adjusting the pressure. You can clean carcasses of different sizes, but the smallest ones are inconvenient to process.
3. Special attachments for power tools. They are distinguished by their versatility (you can pluck any bird), but they are not very convenient to work with: you have to hold the carcass with one hand and carry out processing with the other. The only justification is that such attachments are inexpensive.

Of course, mechanization of the process has many advantages, but there is also a significant disadvantage - high cost. , only farmers or individual business owners who regularly sell livestock buy such devices

But even when using at home, you want to minimize costs, which is why these days a self-made pen removal machine has gained popularity. There may be several options.

What is the design?

1. Centrifuge. A round container with a hole for loading carcasses is used. Beaters located on the bottom and sides of the barrel remove feathers as the bottom rotates. As work progresses, water enters the container to enhance the productivity of the process. This design is suitable for small animals - no larger than a duck.
2. Drum. A drum with “tentacles” is used - it is rotated by a motor. The carcass is simply brought to the rotating drum and pressed. This option is convenient for large birds.
3. Electric tool. This machine with an attachment requires virtually no investment. An attachment with “tentacles” is put on the rotating instrument. He is brought to the scalded carcass. The disadvantage of this option is that your hands get tired quickly.

When using the first option - a centrifuge, you can pluck 30 chickens.

Feather removal machine in the form of an attachment for a screwdriver

This option is one of the simplest. Important advice: you should not try to make fingers yourself, because their cost is low.

In order to make the nozzle, you will need a blank in the shape of a tin can. But the can itself will not work, as the thin tin will bend very quickly. Use thick-walled alloy metal pipe . Attach the bottom on one side using screws, drill a hole in the center, secure the pin in it with nuts (the diameter and dimensions must match the drill chuck). Drill holes for the hammer fingers directly in the cylinder, then insert the rubber bands there - the unit is completely ready for use.

The second economical option: take a sewer pipe made of polyethylene, the diameter of which does not exceed 12 cm. Any hard material is suitable for the bottom. The pin is threaded through, the “cheeks” are tightened using nuts. The fingers are inserted according to the same pattern as described above. To increase productivity and make work easier, the drill can be attached to the table.

A device with a drum works on a similar principle to drill attachments, differing only in its longer length. The drum is located near the supporting axis . For production, a low-power electric motor and a simple pulley gearbox are enough. A large number of birds can be processed, regardless of size. The drum is installed on the frame, a bag for collecting feathers is suspended from below, then you can clean an unlimited number of carcasses.

Manufacturing of plucking devices

All pen removal machines can be easily made with your own hands in any garage of a private home. Of course, some tools and scrap materials are needed here. The most commonly made centrifuge units are those that can operate without human intervention. You just need to load the bird carcass into the tank, turn on the device and watch what is happening.

Before creating these necessary devices for everyday life, you need to make sure you have rubber strikers. And if they are not on sale, they are made from silicone themselves.

It’s not difficult to make finger fingers with your own hands. First, they make a plaster mold for pouring. Then the silicone mass is squeezed out of the tube into it and sent to the dryer for 5 - 6 days. After the time has passed, the fingers are removed and boiled in salt water for 40 minutes. Then they are processed with a knife and brought to normal condition. This completes the work.

Tweezer from a washing machine

The Malyutka washing machine is most suitable for this purpose.
It has a horizontal bottom and a large activator mounted on a bearing. At the bottom of the bottom there is a drive consisting of an electric motor and pulleys. A suitable bucket without a bottom is placed inside the tank so that the activator can rotate freely.

When all the spare parts are assembled and adjusted, they begin to install the hammer pins. They take out the bucket and remove the activator - after all, they are needed for this.

Holes for these fingers are drilled evenly along the round surface of the activator with a gap of approximately 2 cm. Holes are made in the bucket on the side and with the same gap. In addition, a slot is cut at the bottom of the bucket wall to drain the water.

Next, screw spikes into the holes made. Then the container with the activator is put in place. The bucket is firmly fixed - it should not rotate.

Turn it on and check it. If desired, turn off the timer in the washing machine. It is not needed in a chicken plucker.

In this way, they make a feather removal machine from a washing machine with their own hands. This plucker is capable of processing quails, small chickens and ducks in just a few seconds. And this is already a huge help in the household.

Rotary plucking machines

Such devices are capable of processing carcasses of any size. This is a true feather plucker for geese and large turkeys.

It is a drum or rotor with an axle mounted on a frame. A pulley is attached to one end. This drum is driven by a belt drive from a low-speed electric motor. At the bottom there is a bag for collecting feathers. The length of such a rotor is approximately 30 to 60 cm. Holes are evenly drilled on its working surface, in which rubber fingers are then fixed.

The operating principle is as follows. After steaming, the carcass is brought to a rotating rotor, pressing it against rubber fingers. In this case, the bird is constantly turned with the unplucked side towards the working part of the unit. Processing time is no more than one minute, starting with quails and ending with turkeys weighing 7-8 kg.

You need to be careful when using this technique. Otherwise, the operator’s hands will be treated along with the carcass. But this device is capable of plucking large geese in just a couple of minutes.

Feather removal attachment for power tools

This is the simplest attachment, invented during smoke breaks, and created even faster.
It is an ordinary aluminum mug (without handle) with a diameter of 60 mm. A shaft is secured in the center of its bottom for subsequent clamping into the chuck. By the way, instead of a shaft, you can tighten a simple bolt and nut. Holes are drilled on the sides of the mug for the striking fingers. The device is ready to pluck feathers.

Making a feather-removing attachment for a drill with your own hands is as easy as shelling pears. For example, instead of a mug, use a piece of polyethylene pipe with a diameter of 100 mm. The bottoms are made of plywood or plastic. They are inserted into the pipe at both ends and tightened with a pin. Naturally, holes for fingers are drilled on the surface of the piece.

Then the entire structure is assembled, inserted into a drill or screwdriver and sent to pluck the pre-chosen and already slaughtered chickens.

Hunters are happy to take this device with them when they go to the taiga for several days. And at home they leave centrifugal plucking machines for their wives, which do not require human intervention.

>Feather removal machines

Manufacturing a unit based on a washing machine

To make it, an old washing machine with a fixed cylindrical container, a ready-made drive in the lower part that rotates the bottom, and an installed oil seal is perfect.

The main point of processing is to make maximum use of the standard design. Holes are made in the walls for attaching fingers, and a round plate of hard metal is attached above the bottom (the bottoms of old pots or pans are suitable). The base is attached to the axis. Holes are also drilled in the bottom.

The part that rotates should have dimensions smaller than the tank (about 5 cm). If the gap is too large, bird limbs may get in. It is necessary to equip a water drain at the bottom of the tank, while simultaneously ensuring the tightness of the axle so that water cannot get into the electric motor.

With the help of such a unit you can process both small and large carcasses.

Barrel skimmer

• A homemade feather scraper based on a barrel will work on the same principle as devices from washing machines. You need to take a plastic or metal barrel (height - 1 meter, width - 70 centimeters). It must be strong to withstand bird impacts against the sides.
• Holes for fingers are made in the lower part and on the bottom, and the drum is placed in the frame. It can be made from wooden beams or metal corners. The first option is easier to do, but the second is more reliable.
• Before the first layer of the bottom, another one should be added - for attachment to the rotation mechanism.
• To mechanize the product, you will need a 1.5 kW motor. To ensure proper protection, it is better to place the motor on a stand and move it to the side.

This is how you can make a plucking machine with your own hands without extra costs. A significant advantage of such a device is that it can be assembled from scrap materials.

Source: https://stroyka.ahuman.ru/chem-zamenit-bilnye-palcy-dlja-perosemnoj-mashiny/

What is a feather removal machine?

Before you decide to make such a device yourself, you need to study this issue and understand the principle of operation of the machine.

The feather removal machine is a container with rubber pins. These fingers have a special surface that grabs feathers and pulls them out. Thus, without much effort you can process several carcasses in a few minutes.

Feather removal machines are available in several versions:

1. With a centrifuge. Such a device looks like a round or triangular vertical container, inside of which the striking fingers are located.

The bottom of this container with the same elements unwinds at high speed. The carcass is rotated and processed with your fingers. This is how she is freed from feathers.

To make the machine more efficient, water is added to the machine. It protects carcasses from damage and washes away excess feathers.

You can load not very large birds into it. For example, you can pluck quails, chickens and ducks. Feather removal machines for geese take up more space and are more energy intensive. Such devices are used mainly in small farms. It is not economically profitable to use them at home. Therefore, for large birds in the household, other feather removal machines are used.

2. With a drum. Here the drum rotates with the help of a motor. The hitting fingers are located outside. The operator holds the carcass against the rotating rotor and adjusts the clamping force.

This machine allows you to pluck birds of any size. Of course, it is inconvenient to pluck small carcasses in this way.

3. Special attachments for power tools. This tool is universal (you can pluck birds of any size), but not very convenient to use. Here you will have to hold the carcass with one hand, and the tool with the other. The inconvenience is justified by the low cost.

Of course, mechanization of the process has many advantages, but there is also one significant drawback - the high price. Therefore, only farms and peasant households that sell livestock regularly buy feather removal machines.

When using at home, you still want to minimize costs as much as possible. It is for this reason that the DIY feather removal machine has become so popular today. Here are several options for such machines.

Punching fingers for a homemade pen removal machine

As you can see, the main working elements of the device are the striking fingers. It is impossible to make them yourself, so our feather removal machine will begin to be built by purchasing them.

The machine may require up to 120 pcs. such elements. They are also not cheap - for one dollar you are unlikely to be able to buy more than 3-4 rubber fingers, but do not be discouraged ahead of time - in fact, this will be almost the only major investment in this project, everything else can be found in own farm.

When ordering beaters, keep in mind that they come in different sizes and are selected depending on the type of bird. So, when you are planning to pluck broilers, make sure that you do not receive old fingers intended for quail.

Making a screwdriver attachment

The easiest option is to make an attachment for a screwdriver. And just a piece of advice: it is not recommended to make fingers for a pen removal machine with your own hands, since they are so cheap that there is no point in wasting time on them.

To make a screwdriver attachment, you will need a blank in the form of a tin can (the can itself will not work here, since it is made of thin tin, which wrinkles quickly). The workpiece can be made from a thick-walled light-alloy metal pipe. On one side, you need to secure the bottom with screws. A hole is drilled in the center of the bottom, in which a pin is secured with nuts (it should be the size of the drill chuck). Holes for the striking fingers are drilled in the cylinder itself, after which the rubber bands are tucked into the holes - and the device is ready.

Making hammer fingers with your own hands - Metalworker's Handbook

Do-it-yourself feather removal machine - why is it needed? When you come to the store, you buy a ready-made chicken or duck carcass without feathers, but for the time being you don’t think about how they were removed.

And only when you become the owner of your own bird population do you come face to face with the question: how can you quickly but delicately pluck a bird? It is quite possible to make a special device with your own hands, using an unnecessary plastic barrel and spare parts from an old washing machine.

Today we will tell you how to make a feather removal machine with your own hands, list what is needed for this, and offer step-by-step instructions illustrating the entire process.

DIY feather removal machine

What kind of plucking machine can you make with your own hands?

For home use, you can make both a mobile and stationary machine. The first option is easier to implement. It can be used as a spare in case of unforeseen situations or if there are few birds on the farm and they are killed rarely.

The portable device must be used in conjunction with a drill or screwdriver. The basis for the nozzle is a piece of thick pipe or the frame of a large diameter tin can.

It is necessary to weld the bottom to the workpiece, if there is none, and put a pin in the middle, corresponding in thickness to the drill chuck. Holes are punched in the walls of the pipe, where pins-beaters are mounted. They should be oriented outward, and their bases should be secured from the inside.

A power tool with such an attachment is brought to the suspended bird carcass and sequentially processed.

Plucking attachment

An enlarged version of the previous device is a drum-type machine. It has a similar design, but a much larger diameter and length. Therefore, it is not held in hands, but installed on a frame and attached to a rotary engine. A container for collecting feathers is also hung below.

The most convenient is a centrifuge type apparatus. It is a little more difficult to make, but all the effort more than pays off. The central reservoir is a plastic barrel or container from an old washing machine. Basic spare parts are also taken from it.

In such a device, the bottom is made movable - it rotates at a good speed, due to which a friction force is created. An electric motor is connected to the bottom of the machine, which ensures rotation. Holes are made in the bottom to drain water and rake out feathers.

Drum type machine

Advantages of a homemade feather removal device such as a centrifuge

1. This machine can easily process carcasses of different sizes.
2. It is used for plucking all large breeds of birds: chickens, broilers, geese, turkeys, ducks.
3. Several pieces can be placed into the tank at once.
4. Approximately 30-40 carcasses are processed per hour.
5. The bird does not need to be held with your hands and generally participate in the process in any way. Everything happens automatically.
6. The carcass is processed evenly on all sides.
7. The skin and limbs are not damaged.
8. The removed feathers do not scatter around, but are collected at the bottom and exit through a hole previously left in the bottom. The remaining ones can be easily cleaned out later.
9. The pins can be replaced as needed: they are not tightly secured, but are fixed with bolts.
10. The rotation frequency and rotation speed can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the motor power.

Homemade feather removal centrifuge machine

What materials and tools will be needed for the work?

A thrifty owner can find all the spare parts in his own garage or shed.

But if something is missing, it’s easy to buy additional parts at building materials or agricultural equipment stores.

Feather drum

Let's talk about how to make a do-it-yourself feather removal machine with a drum. It works like a drill attachment, only this attachment is longer. The drum is located on the support axis. During production, you can get by with a low-power electric motor and a simple pulley gearbox. This pinching machine can process any number of carcasses, and the size does not matter.

The drum itself is installed on the frame, a bag is hung from below to collect feathers, after which you can clean as many birds as you like.

How to quickly and easily pluck a poultry feather

There are three main methods of plucking poultry used today:

• preliminary, when the killed carcass is placed in hot water for 1 minute 2-3 minutes after death, after which the feathers can be manually removed without any problems;
• combined consists of immersing under water and placing in a cloth or bag for 10 - 20 minutes to create a bath effect so that the feathers can be easily removed by hand;
• mechanical using various attachments and specialized devices for quickly removing feathers from the carcass.
  Plucker

The latter method is used on poultry farms and large farms. It allows you to quickly clean the bird’s body of feathers and down without damaging them. In this way, the carcass is used separately and the feathers separately, allowing the farmer to increase his income level.

If each bird is plucked by hand, it requires a large number of employees. In a competitive environment, poultry farms will go bankrupt or the cost of their products will increase several times.

Plucker attachment

However, the first two are often used on small farms, as they do not require any additional financial costs. Treating the carcass with hot water allows you to clean it of possible parasites that were on its body. But it is worth considering the time costs associated with plucking chickens and other types of poultry. To save time, farmers produce or buy devices to automate the work process themselves.

What attracts the nozzle

Special attachments allow you to automate the process and process more carcasses during the working day. Here are its main advantages:

• increase in productivity;
• reduction of labor costs;
• reducing the cost of the final product;
• lack of thermal treatment of poultry.
  Centrifuge plucker

That is why it is very popular at large production facilities. There are several types of machines on the market that use different principles to treat poultry. That is why you need to understand how each type works to choose the best option.

There are models on the market for different types of birds. This is especially true for plucking turkeys and quail. They are quite difficult to process manually or using a centrifuge. Turkeys may not fit into the device, and quails, due to their small size, get lost in it.

Important. When using attachments, the skin of the carcass is not damaged, which ensures its presentation. But you won’t be able to completely get rid of feathers. Basically, the flywheels remain, which need to be removed manually. Due to the lack of a special bag for collecting feathers and down, it is necessary to clean the area.

How to make a feather removal machine with your own hands from a washing machine

For the manufacture of such a device, an old washing machine with a cylindrical stationary container, a ready-made bottom drive for rotating the bottom and an installed oil seal is ideal.

The main idea of ​​the conversion is to make maximum use of the factory design. You need to drill holes in the walls for the pen removal fingers, and install a round plate of hard metal above the bottom. The bottom of an old frying pan or saucepan will also work here. This base needs to be attached to the axle.

You also need to drill holes in the bottom for the hammer fingers.

The rotating part should be smaller in diameter than the tank (approximately 5 cm). There is no need to leave a very large gap to prevent bird limbs from getting in there.

There should be a drain at the bottom of the tank for water with feathers. Important: the rotation axis must be sealed enough to prevent water from getting onto the electric motor.

This feather removal machine is capable of processing both large and small birds.

Possible difficulties during production

Often, if you follow the described recommendations and general safety rules, assembling the pliers does not cause any particular difficulties. However, sometimes the main questions when building a machine arise at the design stages, when it is not possible to find all the necessary materials. Most often, they can be solved using a horizontal-loading washing machine (such as “Aurica” - it can fully provide most of the necessary materials and technical components).

It is also worth mentioning that making a pliers without modern power tools is almost impossible. To create it, you will definitely need a powerful electric drill, as well as an angle grinder (grinder), and this often requires additional investment.

The main mistakes that farmers make when assembling a homemade plucking machine:

• the absence of fingertips in the side walls - this significantly reduces the efficiency of the device;
• the bolts are not fully tightened, which leads to excessive vibration of the installation;
• excessively low belt tension between the engine and the pump causes it to jump off during operation;
• the small weight of the table means that the structure may move or even jump when starting the engine. In this case, the table needs to be additionally weighted.

A plucking machine is a necessary device not only for large but also for small farms. Despite the fact that there are a huge number of various factory models of such machines on the market, for small poultry farms they are an unjustified waste. However, you can prepare the unit yourself - this will require a standard set of power tools and spare parts from an old washing machine.

Barrel skimmer

A feather removal machine, made with your own hands from a barrel, works on the same principle as a device from a washing machine.

Initially, you will need a plastic or metal round barrel (about 1 meter high, about 70 cm wide). This barrel must be strong enough not to bend from blows from the carcass.

At the bottom of the barrel and at the bottom you need to make holes for the rubber strikers. the resulting drum must be placed in the frame. The frame can be made from wooden boards or metal corners. The first option is easier to do, but the second will be more reliable.

To the first layer of the bottom you need to add another one, which will be attached to the rotating mechanism.

In order to mechanize the machine, you will need an electric motor with a power of about 1.5 kW. To protect the motor, it is better to place it on a stand and take it to the side.

In this way, without extra costs, you can make a feather removal machine with your own hands. We discussed above how to do it in different ways.

The big advantage of such a unit is the cost. After all, it is made from scrap materials. A factory feather removal machine is quite expensive.

Assembling a poultry plucking device

As a container, that is, a drum for a pen-picking machine, you can use a plastic or metal round container, the height of which should be approximately 80-90 cm and the width 70 cm. The plastic should be very durable, and the metal should be at least 1.2 mm thick . The walls should not bend or crack under the influence of carcass impacts, and the rubber fingers should be secured very firmly. Since the drum is still separated from the bottom, it can easily be built from the body of an old round washing machine.

Along the bottom of the drum, up to about half or 1/3, and along the bottom, which is a circle with a diameter similar to the container, holes for the beaters are drilled with a wide drill, at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other. The diameter of the holes should be such that the narrow part intended for installation, the fingers fit snugly in the sockets.

Installing the hammer fingers is quite a task, you will break a sweat and spew several megabytes of profanity into the air while getting everything in place. Dipping the elements into some kind of slip-promoting liquid, such as oil or detergent, can make the job somewhat easier.

Feather nozzle design

Feather-removing nozzles for plucking poultry have the form of a drum made of various types of steel (less often plastic). Beating fingers are installed on the outer part of such a drum. The hammer finger is a rubber base that has a ribbed or grooved shape. The different lengths of such fingers indicate what type of birds the device is intended for.

Such a device is called a nozzle because it is only a working body. This organ is driven by a drill or screwdriver. Screwdrivers are rarely used for such purposes, since they have an insufficient number of chuck rotation speeds. The speed of obtaining the final result depends on the number of revolutions.

The length of the beating fingers indicates what species of bird they are intended for. The sizes of rubber fingers for removing feathers from poultry or wild birds are:

• For small birds - 5 cm
• For large carcasses - from 9 cm

The number of fingers on the drum can vary significantly and range from 12 to 24 pieces. The larger the carcass, the longer the beating fingers should be. Thanks to the feather removal attachments on the drill, the plucking procedure becomes easy and quick.

Nozzle

A special attachment for plucking chickens is attached to a drill or hammer drill. More than a dozen hammer fingers are attached to the aluminum attachment. They are made of soft rubber, which guarantees feather removal without damaging the skin and carcass.

In 2 minutes the nozzle removes feathers from all parts of the carcass.

Instructions are included with each device. If you follow the rules specified in it, the chicken skin will not be damaged and will retain its presentation.

Even a small farmer can buy an attachment for plucking chickens. The cost of the device is quite small.

Types of plucking attachments

Drill attachments for plucking poultry are divided into two main types. These are nozzles with finger sizes up to 5 cm and from 9 cm. For plucking small poultry, nozzles with finger sizes of 5 cm are used. If you need to remove feathers from bird species such as geese or turkeys, then they will need devices with fingers no smaller than 9 cm

You can use not only attachments for plucking poultry, but also special machines. These machines are barrel-shaped with the punching pins located inside. The device is driven by an electric motor, and the closed walls of the product eliminate the possibility of scattering feathers throughout the workplace.

The production produces pluckers, both stationary and attachments. The cost of stationary ones, called feather removal machines, is much more expensive, so it makes sense to buy them if you have to process several dozen carcasses every day.

Classification and principle of operation of machines

The very first such machine appeared at the beginning of the last century from one inventive peasant. And only in the 60s, after a slight modification, they began to be used in large poultry factories, and since 2006 they have been mass-produced by small firms for farms. All of them are classified according to the plucking method:

1. 
   Machine tools. They function together with the operator, whose job is to prepare the carcass for feather removal. The worker soaks the slaughtered birds in hot water for 2-3 minutes, then lowers them into the container of the machine. In it, with the help of a rotating centrifuge and beating fingers, rapid plucking occurs. In one minute you can process up to 4-5 carcasses. Machine tools are used in large and medium-sized poultry farms.

2. Household machines. These are special attachments designed for drills and screwdrivers. They are used by hunters, as well as owners when slaughtering poultry on their personal farmsteads.
3. Centrifugal. These are autonomous cars. They operate from a 220 volt network. Water is supplied to them to wet the feathers of the slaughtered bird. There is a rotating bottom with hammer fingers. These cars are the most popular among the population. Therefore, they are most often homemade, made by the owners themselves according to drawings from the Internet.
4. Rotary machines. Here the carcass is carefully brought to the rotating drum with fingers and lightly pressed. In this case, the worker turns the bird on either untreated side. Plucking time is half a minute. Carcasses of different sizes can be processed. Before plucking, the bird must be soaked in boiling water.

Despite many modifications of such devices, the principle of operation has not changed over the century. All have a rotating plane and striking fingers. And the operating principle is as follows:

• carcasses of various birds scalded with hot water (70 - 80 g) end up in the tank of the machine;
• Due to the rapid rotation of the bottom, the carcasses spin and hit rubber fingers located on the walls of the container. As a result, the feather is removed;
• During rotation, the carcass is watered with water for better cleaning.

It is worth noting that for plucking quails and ducks, feather picking fingers of different lengths and configurations are used.

And also to avoid damage to the skin, the processing time of the carcass should not exceed 40 - 45 seconds. You can pluck 2–3 individuals at the same time, but this depends on the design of the apparatus.

How to make a poultry plucking attachment with your own hands

Improving such a unique tool as a drill has no limits. Every year its capabilities only expand, thereby making life easier for people. Attachments for drills are sold in specialized tool stores, but it is almost impossible to find feather removal devices there. Such devices can be purchased in agricultural stores or online.

The easiest and cheapest way to use feather removal attachments on a drill for plucking poultry is to make them yourself. The advantage of this solution is ease of manufacture and low investment. You only need to buy one important part - the pins. Their number and length are selected depending on the type of bird. You can buy them separately in any quantity, and their price varies from 15 rubles per piece.

Making feather attachments for drills and screwdrivers with your own hands is done as follows:

1. The nozzle is based on a piece of plastic sewer pipe. The diameter of the pipe does not play a big role, but the optimal value is 60 mm
2. You need to drill holes in the pipe, the diameter of which depends on the size of the fingers (usually 20 mm). You can drill holes in a chaotic sequence or three after two
3. The end parts of the pipe must be covered with wooden circles. After cutting them out according to the pipe template, you need to drill a hole in the center with a diameter of 8 mm.
4. The central hole is necessary in order to place the rod inside. A bolt with a length of 10 cm is used as a rod. Its length depends on the size of the pipe used as a drum
5. Using a bolt with nuts, the wooden bases of the nozzle are secured. First you need to install the fingers on the pipe in the drilled holes.
6. To prevent the plastic pipe from falling off the wooden circles while the drill is running, you need to additionally secure it with self-tapping screws
7. The protruding part of the bolt is the shank, which is fixed in the tool chuck. For convenience, you can remove the threads using an emery machine.

The result is a homemade device that can be used to quickly pluck a chicken or duck at home.

Similarly, you can make from available materials not only an attachment for a drill, but also a stationary machine for plucking poultry. A drum from a washing machine is used as the base, and the device can be driven into rotation by an old medium-power electric motor in the arsenal.

How does the plucking machine work?

• A chicken carcass, previously scalded with boiling water, is placed in the container.
• The bird picker is plugged into the mains.
• After switching on, the bottom begins to rotate. The carcass, jumping, hits the ribbed rubber fingers. Feathers fly off her.
• The result is an almost perfectly plucked chicken, duck, goose, and so on. All that remains is to remove the small feathers on the paws.

The poultry plucker can handle almost any poultry - you can use it to pluck chickens, ducks, geese, quails, and turkeys.

How does a plucking machine work?

A homemade feather plucking machine is assembled from a reservoir and rubber parts placed on its inner surface. These parts are called hammer fingers - they are the main part of the device. It is impossible to make these ribbed elements yourself - you have to buy them.

One chicken picker can contain up to 120 beating fingers. Their cost is rather high - on average 20–40 rubles per piece. However, this is the only major expense that will be incurred when creating a homemade product from an old washing machine. Everything else can be found on the farm - a feather plucker assembled with your own hands will cost you little. But the result is excellent: the fuss with plucking will be replaced by an electromechanical installation.

When purchasing pickers, consider the size of the carcasses being plucked. Quail beaters are not suitable for geese, broilers and other larger animals.

Selecting and using a poultry plucking attachment

It is necessary to make a choice in favor of a specific type of device, based on the operating characteristics. It is worth considering the main advantages of both types to make it easier to choose.

Table. Advantages of poultry plucking attachments

Thus, for large farms, an industrial machine that operates on the basis of a centrifuge is recommended. However, for small areas where no more than 20 heads are observed, hand-held devices can be used. They are also actively used during hunting so that the bird can be brought home completely ready for cutting.

Punching fingers on plucker

When selling down, feathers and poultry meat is a business, then manually handle chickens, ducks, etc. unprofitable and time-consuming. You can read more about how to organize a chicken breeding business in our article. Therefore, it is recommended to use such mechanisms. It doesn’t matter whether you use a purchased machine or a homemade one. If you have a small number of heads, you can use a drum. If you raise turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese, then it is worth purchasing several different attachments for the corresponding type of bird.

Tips for Plucking Poultry

Important. Large enterprises need to have centrifuges. They cut costs and reduce the cost of meat. These devices also have various additional functions that make work easier and more productive.

Plucking device based on centrifugal force

This is a relatively small container that is usually round in shape. There are punching fingers on the bottom and sides. To operate such machines, you must be connected to a 220V power supply. You need to place the bird carcass in it and turn it on. After this, the bottom begins to rotate rapidly, ensuring contact between the bird and the striking fingers.

Bird plucker

It is necessary to choose a machine based on the average size of the bird. So, for geese there is one diameter, for chickens another, and so on. During processing, all the fluff and feathers accumulate at the bottom. However, to improve performance, it is recommended to add a little water. This will help you get rid of the feathers faster. It will also protect the carcass from possible mechanical damage.

Important. Purchasing these devices is beneficial for small farms. They allow you to automate work, however, if you have several heads, it is recommended to choose other types of pluckers.

Various sizes of devices allow you to process several carcasses at once. But in this case it will take a little more time. You also need to be prepared for possible damage to individual limbs. That is why centrifuges are used on poultry farms only in cases where the entire carcass will not end up on the market. The power of industrial devices is much greater than that of domestic devices to ensure high productivity at high load levels.

Bird plucking machine "Sprut-700"

It is considered the most affordable and popular among those who use centrifuges. It can be used for any bird except quails, since they are very small. They are best processed by hand or drum.

Bird plucking machine "Sprut-700"

Most models are equipped with an irrigation system. Here are the modifications of this unit that exist today:

• with speed control;
• with irrigation;
• with automatic turning on and off of irrigation as needed.

These systems are often used in large poultry farms because they allow several birds to be feathered at once.