Poultry Processing Equipment

Raising your own poultry for meat is a fast growing practice especially in Snohomish & Skagit county! With the price of meat at the store and the uncertainty of the sourcing and farming practices in the commercial meat market, it is only becoming more important and beneficial! The Snohomish & Monroe Co-op’s provides meat birds and turkeys during our chick season, we provide many options for high quality broiler chickens and for game birds as well, but what you may not know is that we rent out poultry processing equipment right from our Snohomish location!

*Processing birds can be rewarding but it is not for everyone. Please read on knowing that this post is detailed in the whole process of processing your birds from kill to plucked. If this may offend you, please go back and enjoy some of our other articles more tailored to your interests!

What is Poultry Processing Equipment?

This is a series of specific purpose machines that are made to help you process your poultry humanely, effectively and very efficiently! They are easy to use and very reasonable to rent from us. It includes:

• Restraining Cones: Small (6) Medium (2) Large (2)
• Kill Cone Stand (1)
• Blood Collection Tub (1)
• Scalding Tub (1)
• Float Valve (1)
• Dunking Tripod (1)
• Shackles (1)
• Drum Style Plucker (1)

These items will allow you to process your chicken from living to plucked in a short amount of time with minimal handling.

• A Sharp Knife
• Sharp Kitchen Shears
• Bucket(s)
• Full Propane Tank
• Water Access
• Electrical Power Access (Standard 110v outlet)
• Table (one that can be cleaned and sanitized)
• Thermometer
• Extension Cord(s)
• Coolers
• Ice
• Bags (poultry vacuum style, Ziploc, vacuum sealed, whichever you prefer)
• Trash Can/Bag
• Towels

The process goes like this:

Come into the Snohomish store or call to book your appointment. To view available dates for the equipment visit this web page:

https://www.snohomishcoop.com/rentals

(Tip: This page has equipment specs, how to use it and common troubleshooting as well.)

Once your appointment is scheduled, simply check in at the front counter of the Snohomish store on the date of pickup. They will verify the appointment and give you the “okay!” to drive back to the warehouse. The warehouse team will load the equipment into your vehicle and perform an inventory check with you making sure all rental items are included.

Once you get home, ensure the equipment is clean before you begin. Get the scalding tank in the desired location. Connect your propane tank and fill the tank with water ¾ of the way with clean water. light the pilot light. Once it is lit and only AFTER the pilot light is lit, Connect to the power cord (110v). Turn on the burner and begin heating your water. Thermostat should be set to 147 degrees. This will allow water to cycle between 145 & 150 degrees. Give yourself plenty of time to heat this water.

Once that is going, set up the additional equipment in relation to it. The Kill stand and blood collection tub are the first items in the process and they feed into the scalder. Once the birds have been scalded, they will be transferred into the plucker and from there you will need to have your processing table ready for the final processing.

A great practice for the kill cones and blood collection tub is to coat with a layer of soap. This will make cleanup much easier. Once the cones are prepped, pick up the bird gently around the body – holding the wings to the body. When handled in a calm manner, the birds will stay quiet and calm.

• Place the bird head down into the cone with feet upwards. The cone should not be so big so the bird slips too far down and possibly through the hole at the bottom, but not so small that the head won’t reach through the hole at the bottom or back itself out the top of the cone if it moves.
• Reach through the bottom of the cone and pull the head through.
• Pluck some feathers from the side of the neck and slit across the side of the neck and sever the carotid artery and jugular vein. Avoid the trachea (windpipe) and avoid severing the head.
• Let the birds bleed out – should take between one and two minutes if done correctly.Once the cones are prepped, pick up the bird gently around the body – holding the wings to the body. When handled in a calm manner, the birds will stay quiet and calm.
• Place the bird head down into the cone with feet upwards – the cone should not be too big so the bird slip too far down and possibly through the hole at the bottom, but not so small that the head won’t reach through the hole at the bottom or back itself out the top of the cone if it moves.
• Reach through the bottom of the cone and pull the head through.
• Pluck some feathers from the side of the neck and slit across the side of the neck and sever the carotid artery and jugular vein. Avoid the trachea (windpipe) and avoid severing the head.
• Let the birds bleed out – should take between one and two minutes if done correctly.

How to use the scalder:

• Once the birds have bled out, load birds onto the birds. It can hold about 30 pounds. Load it so the weight is even on both sides.
• Dunk the birds in about 6-7 cycles: hold them in for about five seconds in, then three seconds out for each cycle.

Tip: Check for doneness after the 4th or 5th by plucking wing feathers. When they release easily with no resistance, you are ready to pluck.

Be aware that the water level and temperature may change as you are processing, especially if you are processing a lot of birds. The scalding tank can handle approximately 72 birds per hour while maintaining proper water temperature. Each bird you dunk will take some of the water out of the tank so make sure to add water as needed and monitor temperature regularly.

How to use the plucker:

1. Swing the tripod of the scalder – still loaded with the freshly scalded chickens – over the Plucker.
2. Connect the plucker to a hose and power.
3. Hit the start switch of the Plucker with your foot.
4. Release the chickens from the loops of the shackles into the Plucker.
5. Turn on the water valve to start washing the feathers down and swept out of the bottom.
6. Let the chickens tumble in the Plucker for about 20 seconds.
7. Inspect the birds – repeat as needed.
8. Typically, the tail is removed during the butchering process itself, so don’t worry about any remaining feathers on the tail.

Once you have completed all of these steps, you are now ready to eviscerate the bird and finish the butchering process.

Processing Prep

Withhold feed from the birds overnight. This will help limit the amount of waste produced by the chickens during this process and prevent contamination.

Rental Terms:

Our rental terms are for a 46 hour period and only costs $28(at the time of this posting).

Rent our equipment through our easy rental process and turn your week long endeavor into an afternoon event!

The dates fill up quickly so book them now and get on the schedule!

Stop in and talk with our staff and check out the rental page:

https://www.snohomishcoop.com/rentals

We’ll see you at the Co-op!