Last Updated on January 10, 2023
Are you looking for a plucker to defeather your chickens, turkeys, ducks, or geese? Here are the best chicken pluckers for any budget that will make removing feathers a much easier job.
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Since I started using a plucker I can’t imagine butchering chickens without one. And if you raise chickens and process them yourself, you’ll be blown away at how much easier processing chickens can be with one.
A chicken plucker will make an already tough job much faster and way less tedious. A good one will completely defeather a chicken in 30 seconds or less. If you have ever defeathered a chicken by hand then you’ll understand why that’s amazing.
With that being said, here are our favorites that you can buy on Amazon.
1. Best Chicken Plucker Overall
- POWERFUL AND EFFICIENT PROCESSING: With a heavy duty 1.5 HP motor and 300 RPMs of spinning force, Yardbird can de-feather chickens, ducks, geese, hens, waterfowl and other birds in just 15-30 seconds following an appropriate scalding process. A roomy 20” diameter drum easily accommodates many sizes of birds.
- NATURAL AND SAFE DEFEATHERING: 110 individual rubber fingers naturally and gently remove feathers dirt and grime from the skin of the bird. A drum-sensing safety switch and GFCI ensure that the operator is safe and secure during processing.
- SIMPLE DEBRIS COLLECTION: An integrated irrigation ring with standard garden hose connector allows for hands-free flushing of plucked feathers into the feather chute. Feather collection is accomplished by simply placing a 5-gallon pail under the chute.
- EASY TO CLEAN & MAINTAIN: A removable stainless steel, food-grade, drum along with a gear-drive commercial-grade motor encased in a specialized waterproof motor housing make for easy cleaning and minimal maintenance.
- TRANSPORT AND STORAGE FRIENDLY: The compact size of the Yardbird allows for efficient storage while the solid rubber wheels with ball-bearings give the user the transportability and flexibility needed to get to and from the processing site.
- SERVICE AND SUPPORT: The Yardbird Chicken Plucker is backed by a US-based customer service and support team that is committed to ensuring your satisfaction with the product.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If you are looking for the best chicken plucker you can order online, this Yardbird plucker is it in our opinion.
With it’s 1.5 HP electric motor, a 20″ drum, and 110 rubber fingers, this plucker will have no problem removing feathers from your chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese in 15 to 30 seconds.
There are a few additional things I love about this plucker.
The first is that it has wheels which make it easy to move around. This is a huge benefit because pluckers are typically pretty heavy.
The other thing that I love about this plucker is that the drum is removable which makes it much easier to clean.
If you are looking for an awesome chicken plucker, the Yardbird is a great option.
Also, check out this video to see it in action.
2. Second Best Chicken Plucker
- Heavy Duty Commercial De-Feather Remover Poultry & Fowl Food Processor, built of premium safe & sanitary 403 Brushed Stainless Steel body/base (protecting from rust). Utilizing an all-powerful 1HP 120VAC 800W 280RPM Planetary Gear Transmission Reduction Motor w/ an Over-current protector GFCI Connector. Included w/ 92 soft fingers in a large 20 drum dia. w/ a Barrel Thickness: 0.6mm. (0.023 or 1/32 in.) & Panels Thickness: 0.3mm. (0.011 or 1/64 in.)
- Powerful & reliable Fowl & Poultry Feather Plucker has a durable structure capable of 2-4 birds at one time, in just 15-30 seconds per foul, that is 3-4 in under 2 minutes (depending on the size of the fouls & if properly scalded, will guarantee high speeds & efficiency) making the job quickn easy & effortless. Our Plucker has a robust compact design for easy storage & transportation, including 2 wheels for optimal maneuverability & a 3 leg for extra stability & support.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If the Yardbird plucker is not available or you just want to save a little money then the KITCHENER plucker is also a great choice.
It has a slightly less powerful motor and less fingers than the Yardbird but it still gets the job done.
It will defeather 2-4 chickens at a time but I personally would stick with a maximum of two at once.
It also has wheels which make it easy to move around.
This is our choice for second best chicken plucker.
Here’s a great video about it if you want to learn more.
3. Best DIY Chicken Plucker
- Every small-farm and backyard poultry producer dreams of a machine that will do the nasty job of feather plucking. With the publication of Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker that dream can now be an affordable reality.
- This book is a well organized and complete how-to guide to building a Whizbang feather plucking machine. A Whizbang plucker will pick the feathers off chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese in a matter of seconds. Just turn the machine on, drop one or more scalded birds into the tub and watch as rubber fingers flail the feathers off (whithout damaging the birds skin).
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
If you are a do-it-yourself type person and you don’t want to spend a lot of money buying a prebuilt plucker, you can build your own.
This Whizbang plucker plan book will walk you through everything you need to know to build an awesome plucker.
I have personally used a custom built Whizbang plucker that someone built using this manual and it worked just as well as the professionally built one I have.
Because of this, the Whizbang ‘Anyone Can Build a Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker’ book is our choice for for best DIY chicken plucker.
Here’s a demonstration of someone using one they built.
4. Best Chicken Plucker on a Budget
- Drill Powered Poultry Plucker
- Heavy Duty Killing Restraining Cone - LARGE Size
- Swedish Made High Carbon Steel Mora Knife
- Bundle Items and Save!
If you are on a budget but you still want an easier way to defeather your chickens, this drill powered poultry plucker will get the job done.
I personally own one of these and can attest that they do work.
There are a few downsides to using this verses a full size plucker though.
It is a lot more messy than a regular plucker. You will get sprayed and splashed with water and feathers while you use it.
It also takes a lot longer to remove feathers than a full size plucker. You will need to turn the chicken manually while you hold it up against the rubber fingers.
If you are ok with that then this drill powered plucker along with a killing cone and knife kit is a great deal.
Because of this, it’s our choice for best chicken plucker on a budget.
Here’s a great video review.
How Do You Remove Feathers From a Chicken?
In order to remove feathers from a chicken, you will first need to scald the chicken once it has been killed.
You’ll need a good scalder with pot that’s large enough to fully submerge the chicken in.
You’ll also need a burner and a thermometer to get the water temperature in the pot to an even 145 degrees Fahrenheit and keep it there.
If the water is too hot, it will actually start to cook the chicken which causes the skin to come off during plucking. If it’s too cold then the feathers won’t come out at all.
When your temperature is correct and the chicken has been killed, simply dunk the chicken into the water while holding its feet. You may need to swirl the chicken around in the water to make sure the hot water gets between the feathers.
To see if the chicken is ready for plucking, simply pull it out of the water and try pulling some feathers out. If the feathers come out fairly easily, it’s ready for the plucker.
If you have a full size plucker, simply turn the plucker on and put the chicken in. If your plucker doesn’t have water spray nozzles, you’ll need to spray the chicken with water using a garden hose while it is being plucked.
A full size plucker should remove the feathers within 15 to 30 seconds.
After that, you can proceed with processing the chicken.
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