How to Build a Mechanical Chicken Plucker

One of the most dreaded tasks in butchering chickens is removing the feathers. When done by hand, de-feathering a chicken can be an arduous task. However, there are a variety of designs of mechanical chicken pluckers available for purchase. These somewhat expensive devices can make quick work of removing the feathers from a chicken. A more cost-effective solution is to build a mechanical chicken plucker from a power drill and a few sections of rubber bungee cords.

• 1

  Insert a 3/8-inch drill bit into a power drill. Drill a hole directly in the center of the PVC end cap.

• 2

  Make 8 equidistant pencil marks around the circumference of the PVC end cap. These marks should divide the end cap into eight equal pie shapes.

• 3

  Drill two 3/8-inch holes along each of the eight lines on the sides of the end cap. One of the holes should be about an inch in from the edge of the cap, and the second should be about two inches in from the edge of the cap on each pencil line.

• 4

  Cut each of the bungee cords into 4-inch sections. Discard the middle section of each, leaving 16 4-inch bungee cord sections.

• 5

  Insert the cut end of one of the bungee cords into one of the holes in the perimeter of the PVC end cap. Pull the cord all the way through the hole as far as it will go until the fat end of the bungee cord section is lodged inside the end cap. Repeat with the other sections of bungee cord until all 16 holes in the edge of the cap are filled.

• 6

  Place a washer over the edge of the bolt. Slip the end of the bolt through the hole in the center of the bolt (from the outside of the PVC end cap toward the inside). Place another washer onto the bolt, followed by the nut. Thread the nut all the way, until it is tight against the inside of the PVC end cap to form a drive shaft for the chicken plucker.