Best Chicken Plucker – Buyer’s Guide

If you’re a farmer who raises chickens for meat, you know that plucking feathers can be a time-consuming and messy process. That’s where chicken pluckers come in – these handy tools can make plucking a whole lot easier, faster, and less frustrating. But with so many chicken pluckers on the market, how do you choose the best one for your needs?

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the best chicken pluckers available, and examine the key factors you should consider when selecting one. We’ll compare different types of pluckers, including drill attachments and stand-alone machines, and explore the features you should look for, such as plucking speed, feather retention, and ease of cleaning. Whether you’re processing a few birds a year or running a full-scale poultry operation, this post will help you find the chicken plucker that’s right for you.

1. Yardbird 21833 – Fastest Chicken Plucker

Yardbird is a subsidiary brand of Ardisam, a distinguished outdoor product manufacturer with a wealth of experience spanning over 50 years. Leveraging this expertise, Ardisam has crafted the Yardbird 21833, a remarkable chicken plucker renowned for its impressive power and speed. As experts in the field, we have determined that the Yardbird 21833 stands out as the fastest chicken plucker in our comprehensive review, particularly when it comes to efficiently defeathering a single bird. However, it is important to note that the Yardbird 21833 has a relatively smaller capacity, which diminishes the significance of this particular accolade.

In order to comprehend the speed of a chicken plucker, it is crucial to consider two primary specifications that directly influence its performance, alongside a potential impact from a secondary feature. Fortunately, the Yardbird 21833 excels in all of these aspects, consistently accomplishing the task of defeathering a chicken in approximately 15 seconds. This impressive feat is largely attributed to the Yardbird 21833’s exceptional motor, boasting a formidable 1.5 horsepower.

To further enhance its plucking efficiency, the Yardbird 21833 incorporates a robust configuration of 110 plucking fingers, complemented by a built-in irrigation system that facilitates convenient cleanup and prevents any accumulation issues. Moreover, the machine is securely affixed to a frame mounted on wheels, enabling effortless maneuverability of the Yardbird 21833 within the operational space.

Best Way to Pluck a Chicken

2. Kitchener FP100 – Best Budget Chicken Plucker

Kitchener may not be as big of a name in the states, but around the world, it is known as one of the bigger OEM kitchen appliance manufacturers that is now bringing its products to a broader consumer-grade market. This particular model is reasonably solid in terms of its specs and performance, but the value that this product provides is off the charts. As such, we felt compelled to rank this as our best budget chicken plucker – even though it is not, strictly speaking, the least expensive product we reviewed. Though, one area where these savings seem to be found is in the questionable QC which is fairly standard for an OEM brand moving into the consumer-grade market.

Good, Not Great

Make no mistake that the Kitchener is nowhere near the best chicken plucker we saw, but with a price that is anywhere from 25 percent to 3 times less than its competitors, you do not really need the best.  The 20” diameter tub is more than sufficient for a few birds while the 92 soft fingers, with a rating of 55 on the hardness index, effortlessly remove the feathers. 

Quick and Clean

This plucker also comes with a built-in irrigation system to make cleaning the plucker after use that much easier. Finally, the 1.2 hp motor is more than powerful enough to defeather a single bird in roughly 15 to 30 seconds. The Kitchener also comes with a wheeled frame that allows you to more easily transport it if need be.

3. EZPlucker EZ-151 – Largest Chicken Plucker

EZPlucker got its start as a small-scale solution to a local farmer who eventually realized that the internet was a great place to sell his invention. In the span of a decade, EZPlucker has become one of the premier manufacturers of consumer-grade pluckers. The EZPlucker EZ-151 is actually only the second-largest model in the EZPlucker lineup but is still the largest chicken plucker that we reviewed. In fact, the EZPlucker EZ-151 takes the top spot in a number of different specs and qualities. Though, you will have to provide your own irrigation ring and pay top dollar for the top product on the market.

Best Specs

No matter what manufacturers want to say, the raw performance of any mechanical product can be tied to its various specs.  For the EZPlucker EZ-151, this starts primarily with the tub which sits at an impressive 23” in diameter. On top of that, the tub is also fashioned with the most fingers at 129 which combine to defeather a chicken in anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds.  One thing that is a bit odd is that the EZPlucker EZ-151 has the lowest rated motor power on our list at only 1 hp. Still, this does not seem to play out as any meaningful weakness since the EZPlucker EZ-151 can strip a bird of its feathers as faster or faster than the majority of pluckers on our list.

Big Boy

That said, the massive size of the EZPlucker EZ-151’s tub allows this chicken plucker to hold up to 4 birds at one time. In fact, this particular model was designed to accommodate birds as large as a 25-pound turkey. It is worth noting that the EZPlucker EZ-151 is actually marketed as feather plucker for pretty much all livestock fowl. As is somewhat standard within the self-contained units, the EZPlucker EZ-151 also features a wheeled frame for easier portability.

4. Josas JO24 – Best Chicken Plucker Attachment

The Josas is by far the least common type of plucker that we reviewed primarily because it is the only plucker on our list that is not a self-contained unit. In fact, this would likely be considered the best budget chicken plucker if it were not for its unusual design and requirements.

Specifically, this is the only plucker we reviewed that is actually just an attachment meant to fit on any standard-sized drill. While this is a bit less convenient than self-contained units, it does offer its own unique benefits and makes this the best chicken plucker attachment that we saw.

Just a Bit

Cleanup Aisle…

This can make cleaning up the feathers significantly more difficult and increases the time it takes to defeather a bird. That said, with a body made of aluminum and a solid 24 plucking fingers, the minute it takes to defeather a chicken is not really that long. Of course, the 24 plucking fingers is the least on our list and is only further amplified by the absence of a tub with additional plucking fingers.

5. Rite Farm Products Pro Plucker – Best All-Around Value Chicken Plucker

Like another product on our list, Rite Farm Products is not actually its own company and is instead a proprietary brand owned by 4 Front Inc., an only online manufacturer. While this business model often allows for products priced lower than the average, the Rite Farm Products Pro Plucker is actually on the more expensive side of the aisle in this regard. That said, there are few pluckers which can match the performance at this price point which is precisely why we rated this as our best all-around value chicken plucker.

More Power

While Rite Farm Products does not actually release the time it takes to defeather a chicken,  we can assure youthat this plucker is fairly fast. This starts with the most powerful motor on our list which is twice as powerful as its next closest competitor at 3 hp generated. On top of that, the Pro Plucker also has the second-most number of plucking fingers at 114,  though cleanup may take a bit longer as the Pro Plucker does not have a built-in irrigation system.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Still, the tub is nearly the largest at 22 ½” and is more than capable of handling up to 5 birds at once which is technically the most on our list – though this does increase the chances of bruising the meat during the defeathering process. With the stainless steel frame and tub, you will not have to worry about the Pro Plucker rusting or corroding, though the lack of an irrigation ring does still make the cleanup a bit more complicated and increases the immediacy to prevent rust or corrosion from developing.

Buyer’s Guide

Power

This is easily the most important consideration to make when selecting a chicken plucker primarily because the process is “messy.” In this regard, we do not mean that the process creates a mess, though it indubitably does, but that mechanically defeathering a bird is not a smooth process. As such, the defeathering task will involve uneven weight and force distributions which can wreak a weak motor in no time flat.

That is why having a plucker with a powerful motor is so important: it ensures that the plucker will remain functioning at a high-performance level for longer without breaking down. Of course, the power generated by the motor will also influence how quickly the plucker defeathers the bird, but that is heavily influenced by other factors as well.

Fingers

This is the next most important factor to consider in terms of how effectively and quickly the chicken plucker can perform its task. Basically, the more plucking fingers a plucker has the quicker the plucker will be able to defeather the bird. While this may seem fairly simple and straightforward, it is important to remember that the stiffness of the plucking fingers will also impact how effective the fingers are at defeathering the birds.

While more fingers being better is pretty easy to understand, the balance that the fingers need to demonstrate between stiffness and softness is less intuitive.

Tub

While not strictly speaking a necessity, most chicken pluckers come with their own tubs which are lined with plucking fingers. When judging this quality, people generally defer either to the number and quality of the plucking feathers or the maximum capacity. As mentioned prior, using a mechanical chicken plucker can bruise the meat, and defeathering multiple birds simultaneously only increases the odds of bruised meat.

However, the larger the tub generally the more plucking fingers as well as the generally the quicker the defeathering process. One thing that is a bit frustrating is that most of the pluckers with the largest tubs do not also include a built-in irrigation system. When selecting a chicken plucker, whether the tub supports a built-in irrigation system or not, it is a good idea to make sure that the tub is made of rust and corrosion resistant materials like aluminum or stainless steel.

Irrigation

This is a bit tricky to judge since it is not really considered standard fare for even a good consumer-grade chicken plucker. That said, the difference in ease of use and, more important, ease of cleaning and maintenance, pushes this consideration up a bit. Basically, as a chicken is defeathered, the removed feathers have to go somewhere – and without an irrigation system, the feathers often sit in the tub.

This can lead to a second cleaning of the clinging feathers from the otherwise processed bird. On top of that, the feathers will also need to be cleaned out of the tub and off of the plucking fingers. Without a built-in irrigation system, this can be a long and tedious process, though it is at least not that difficult. Still, you have to clean the tub and fingers after each use to prevent the feathers from bogging down the motor and shortening the plucker’s lifespan.

Portability

Depending on the arrangement of your farm, this will either be a huge benefit or something that you can ignore entirely. If you have a larger farm without electrical wiring running to various locations, chances are that you already have everything set up to be as compact as possible. In this instance, you do not need to worry about how portable the chicken plucker is since it will likely always be used within a 100 sq ft area.

Of course, for larger farms that have numerous partitions for different types of livestock and crops, the ability to move your chicken plucker from one place to another can be an invaluable time-saver. To accomplish this task, most manufacturers simply bolt or weld the plucker to a metal frame. The frame will usually have a wheeled base which allows you to easily move the chicken plucker from one place to another.

Conclusion

In the end, the chicken plucker market is one where you generally get what you pay for, but it is also one of many levels. If you have a larger farm where you need to dress numerous birds a day, you will likely want to get the best of the best which, in our opinion, is the EZPlucker EZ-151. While it is actually the least powerful self-contained chicken plucker that we reviewed, this does not seem to slow it down that much since it still defeathers a bird in 10 to 30 seconds.

That said, this likely has more to do with the extra-large tub that sits at 23” in diameter and is coupled with the most plucking fingers that we saw at 129. Of course, not everyone needs the absolute best chicken plucker – especially if you do not use it daily – and the Rite Farm Products Pro Plucker or the Kitchener plucker are both solid value options.