Set up is fairly quick now. The scalder is less than 10 pounds and the plucker is on wheels. The table sets up quickly and the killing cones attach to the wheeler cart with a single clamp. One spigot on the garage provides hot water and one cold.
Clean up is also quick. We use buckets to collect entrails and blood and a tarp for the feathers.
The plucker is the center of the operation. The hose attaches to the manifold on the plucker. The manifold then feeds a slow stream of cool well water to the cooler to chill the bird once processed, a spray nozzle for cleaning up, and the rinse ring.
After some experimenting we learned that two chickens in the plucker at one time works the best - plucking time is half or less than that of a single bird.
The only thing I’ll change for the next round in a few weeks is to add a few more fingers to the barrel (hopefully improving the plucker’s efficiency with a single bird) and increase the rotation of the feather plate from 289 rpm to 315 rpm.
#wiltziusplucker