Have you ever tried to defeather a bird with your own hands? Everyone knows how painful and lengthy the process is. Good when you need to pluck one bird. And if we are talking about a large number of goals? Then the work may take several days. It is especially difficult to pluck quails. They are small and the work is rather meticulous. But what if we told you that there is a special quail picker that will do all the work in a few minutes?
Are you surprised? With the help of such a unit, poultry farmers pluck a large number of poultry heads quickly and effortlessly. How exactly is the machine designed and operated? Does she pluck the bird well? How to make it with your own hands.
How a picking machine works
Based on the name, it becomes clear that the device cleans the bird’s carcass from feathers. And if you can process one or two birds with your own hands, then with a large number you need to sweat. This is where such a pickup machine comes in handy. Outwardly, it resembles a small top-loading washing machine. The main part of the structure is the drum. Special fingers are installed on its bottom and walls, thanks to which the bird is plucked.
There is no rigid connection between the machine drum and the bottom. These are separate moving parts. A special tray is made at the bottom of the structure. Water will drain into it and the removed feathers will accumulate. The heart of the whole structure is a single-phase motor, the power of which reaches 1.5 kW. Due to the operation of the motor, the drum inside starts to spin, a centrifuge is created and the carcass rotates inside. And since rubber fingers are built into the bottom and in the walls, feathers are plucked from the quail during torsion. So the process is the following:
- You plug the pick-up machine into a socket.
- The bottom of the drum begins to rotate rapidly.
- You throw in a few quails.
- They are rotated by a centrifuge.
- Thanks to rubber fingers, quails get rid of feathers.
In 30 seconds in the car, you can process several quails. And how many heads can be plucked in 10 minutes or half an hour? After all, it takes so much time for manual plucking. At the same time, the plucking is of very high quality. You will not find any remaining feathers. We can say with confidence that such equipment justifies itself. Check out this video to see the whole process of the picking machine.
Do-it-yourself feathering machine
New equipment is expensive. Many cannot afford such pleasure. However, as you have seen, the design of the machine is quite simple. You can easily make such a unit with your own hands. Here are the details you will need:
- good motor;
- a cylinder (a large pan, a drum from a washing machine), whose width is 70 cm and a height of 80 cm;
- beaters – those rubber fingers that pluck quails, about 120 pcs.
The motor and beaters for the machine are the most expensive parts of the structure. But you can save a lot if you have an old washing machine like this at home.
Then you just have to buy quail beaters, about 120 pieces, and make the bottom of the car. It is necessary to cut a special plate, the width of which will be identical to the activator of the machine. After that, holes must be cut in this plate, the diameter of which is the same as that of the rubber beaters. It remains to insert the beaters into their places and the bottom of the car is almost ready. An identical hole is made exactly in the center of the activator and the plate. Only here in the activator you need to cut the thread where the axis is inserted. So, you can connect the plate and the activator, synchronizing them.
Now take a plastic bucket, the bottom diameter of which is slightly larger than the plate. It must fit in the machine. Cut the bottom in it and make holes in the walls for the beaters. Lock them in place.
Now put the bucket in its place and fix it by attaching it to the walls of the washing machine. Now you need to make a hole in the bottom of the drum through which all the water and feathers will come out. That’s all, your quail plucking machine is ready.
Detailed instructions are in this video.
Conclusion
Such a machine for plucking quails is an indispensable thing on the farm if you are breeding birds. Based on numerous reviews, the purchase or construction of such a unit with your own hands is an excellent solution that will allow you not only to save energy, but also a lot of time. There is no one who would regret having bought such a car. If you ever try what it is, then you will also understand that you cannot do without such a thing on the farm.