How to Build Chicken Pickers

Plucking chickens is not pleasant, but somebody's gotta do it. If you're heading into butchering season, you may have noticed that mechanical feather pluckers, sometimes called chicken pickers, are very expensive. A cheaper alternative is to make your own chicken plucker. An electric fan motor, a solid surface, and a bevy of rubber fingers are the central items you'll need. No special skills or specialty tools are required.

Things You'll Need

  • 2 by 8 by 18 inch board
  • 7 1/2 by 12 inch carpet
  • 12 1/2 inch staples
  • Single speed electric fan motor
  • 6 by 6 by 1/4 inch plywood
  • 6 by 7 by 1/4 inch plywood
  • Saw
  • Power drill
  • 14 1 inch screws
  • 3/4 by 3/4 by 4 inch wood
  • Electric box
  • 1 to 4 foot long electric cord
  • Light switch with cover
  • 2 wire nuts
  • 1 2 inch PVC cap
  • 15 rubber plucking fingers
  • Welder
  • 1 1/2 by 2 inch threaded rod
  • Nuts
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Lay the board on the ground.

    • 2

      Attach the carpet to the board using staples. This helps reduce vibration from the electric fan motor.

    • 3

      Cut both plywood pieces with a saw in order to hold the motor.

    • 4

      Drill a 1 1/2 inch hole into the 6 by 6 inch piece of plywood.

    • 5

      Drill four electric fan motor-mounting bolt holes into the 6 by 6 inch plywood.

    • 6

      Attach the 6 by 6 inch plywood to the side of the board using screws.

    • 7

      Mount the electric fan motor using screws.

    • 8

      Cut the 6 by 7 inch piece of plywood at a 45 degree angle using a saw. This will serve as a gusset.

    • 9

      Attach the 6 by 7 inch piece of plywood to the board using screws.

    • 10

      Secure the two pieces of plywood together with wood using screws.

    • 11

      Mount the electric box to the top of the board opposite the motor.

    • 12

      Wire the electric fan motor, electric cord and light switch, with cover, together using wire nuts.

    • 13

      Drill 15 holes about 1/4 inch each around the outside of the PVC cap.

    • 14

      Place two rubber plucking fingers side by side, followed by a space and one finger in the center. Repeat this pattern evenly all the way around, and then pull the fingers through each hole from the inside out.

    • 15

      Drill a 1 1/2 inch hole in the end of the PVC cap so it can be secured to the electric fan motor.

    • 16

      Cut the fan to motor mounting collar from the fan blades.

    • 17

      Weld the threaded rod to one end of the collar.

    • 18

      Mount the collar to the electric fan motor.

    • 19

      Fasten the PVC cap to the end using nuts.