Advice Needed About Renting Chicken Plucker

[aggieterpkatie]

I like raising our own meat birds, but the thought of processing is always a headache. Really it's just the plucking, the rest is easy. I've plucked by hand when we raised 25 for my sister this past summer, and the other birds we've raised we've been lucky enough to use our friend's processing system (he does it for farmers markets, so he has an awesome set up). Problem is, he lives an hour away and I don't want to take advantage of him. And I don't want to skin the birds.

So, we're debating buying a tub-style plucker or plucker kit and building our own. We're thinking of renting it out and trying to at least get our money back out of it. LIke everyone, money is tight for us and we can't afford to just spend $1000 on a plucker we only use for ~100 meat birds a year.

So, what are your thoughts? How much would you pay to rent a plucker for the weekend or the day? And would you rather just pay per day, or would you pay per weekend? And what else would you want included? Just the plucker? Plucker and chill barrels? Propane burner and pot?

We'd love to get a little 5X8 trailer and include a plucker, burner, pot, chill tanks, cones, etc. But that's a lot of money that we just don't have. Maybe we could upgrade if we see there's enough of a demand for it.

I told my husband most people who raise their own meat birds are trying to be self sufficient, so I don't think most will mind providing their own cones or pot or burner, etc. Plus, most are probably thrifty like us and I'm not sure they'd be willing to pay a lot to rent a plucker.

We're not looking to get rich, but it would be nice to pay for the plucker and maybe make a little extra cash, and at the same time help people out so raising their own meat is easier for them. I'd love it if everyone could raise their own meat!

Ideas welcome! And be totally honest!

 

[miss_thenorth]

That is a really great idea, but your concerns are valid. I don't know how much I would pay to rent a plucker, but it would have to be reasonable. We tried processing our meaties this year, --i think we did 6 before calling the abbattoir. The plucking was a disaster. If it is a commercial grade plucker, I would rent it if I could save alot of maoneyand hassle. to send my meaties away, I pay $2.80 per bird. Drop them off and pick them up the same day. I usually do about 25-50 birds. It would have to be alot cheaper than that.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

That is a really great idea, but your concerns are valid. I don't know how much I would pay to rent a plucker, but it would have to be reasonable. We tried processing our meaties this year, --i think we did 6 before calling the abbattoir. The plucking was a disaster. If it is a commercial grade plucker, I would rent it if I could save alot of maoneyand hassle. to send my meaties away, I pay $2.80 per bird. Drop them off and pick them up the same day. I usually do about 25-50 birds. It would have to be alot cheaper than that.

We were thinking of renting it per weekend, so they could pick it up Friday sometime, and bring it back on Sunday. We were thinking $100/weekend. Does that sound fair? I was also thinking we could offer assistance or at least show them how to get started processing their own birds. I worry about liability issues with that though. I don't want to be held responsible if they're not clean when they process or something.

Also, if they rent the plucker for $100 what kind of insurance do we have that they won't steal it? I mean, I tend to think that most people who raise their own food aren't the kind of people that steal, but you never know these days and sometimes I'm a little too trusting. Would a separate $100 deposit returned when the plucker is returned in good condition be too much to ask? Or should we do a little contract saying we're not held responsible for anything they do with their birds, and they're responsible for paying for the plucker if it's lost or damaged?

 

[patandchickens]

I was also thinking we could offer assistance or at least show them how to get started processing their own birds. I worry about liability issues with that though. I don't want to be held responsible if they're not clean when they process or something.

You might want to talk with your homeowners insurance agent about it, or a lawyer if you happen to have a 'tame' lawyer around but so few people do Or, actually, what if you looked online to find people (ideally in your state, but really even if they're not it'd still be worth asking) who either do how-to-process-your-own-chickens classes/workshops, or who rent out pluckers or mobile processing units, and phone or email them and see if you can pick their brains on THEIR understanding of, and approach to, the liability issues. Some will blow you off but I bet a lot would be quite willing to discuss what they know.

Also, if they rent the plucker for $100 what kind of insurance do we have that they won't steal it?

None. You can do a deposit; you can have them sign a contract thingie that makes 'em responsible for loss or damage to the unit; but none of that is going to STOP someone from taking or trashing it . With the deposit, at least you'd be $100 closer to buying a new one, but a contract really does nothing at all unless you happen to have the (considerable!!) energy and time needed to take them to small claims court AND you win AND by some miracle you end up actually eventually collecting, which an awful lot of people who win in small claims court never do succeed at.

So I would not suggest doing it unless you are OK with the possibility of losing the unit. I don't mean that you wouldn't be mad as all get-out of course LOL I just mean that it would not be a financial or practical crisis for you.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

For $100 a weekend, I would definitely not do it. I can send them out for $140 and not have to get my hands dirty--other than loading them up in the truck.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Just wanted to add, ( as it seems Pat covered most of your issues) that we have rented things in the past where they take our credit card # and in the event the the unit is not returned in acceptable condition (as in broke) they charge it to your credit card.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Thanks for the advice Pat. I'll try to find someone that currently rents one out! Yeah, I wouldn't be *happy* if someone trashed it or stole it, but I guess the $200 would be almost half the price of building our own. :/

For $100 a weekend, I would definitely not do it. I can send them out for $140 and not have to get my hands dirty--other than loading them up in the truck.

But how many are you having processed for $140? With $100/weekend they can do 25 or 1,000. (if anyone is crazy enough to do 1000 in a weekend!). I mean, if you raise 100 birds, you're going to be paying a processor $280, but if you do them yourself (which is way doable for a whole weekend) you're only out $100.



And I'm not sure how we'd charge someone's CC unless we're a business. Hmm...this is a lot to think about.

ETA: So what price would you pay for the plucker for a weekend? $50? I think $50 is hardly enough money to charge to have the plucker for 2.5 days, because when you rent other things it's at least $50 per day for appliances like that. I just am really curious to what a fair price is. I mean, if someone only has $25 birds, then $100 sounds steep, but if you have 100 birds, it's pretty cheap.

 

[patandchickens]

You might want to also have the option of only renting it for 24 hrs. Because, $100 and a weekend is reasonable if you have, like, 50+ birds to process; but if you only have a dozen, it does not make much financial sense. Yet I would bet there are some dozen-chickens people out there who'd still be interested, at a lower rate.

I think a lot of it (for the smaller number of chickens) is psychological, but that's real too I mean, for a dozen chickens it does not take long to pluck them by hand if you have scalded them correctly BUT it seems like people with just a relatively few chickens are also more apt to be inexperienced or a bit squeamish about the whole thing so I bet you would still find takers for a rental if the price was right.

I am not sure whether I'd rent a plucker for just a dozen chickens -- although because I work alone and am usually very time-limited, I *might* -- but if I did, I would think that something like $40 for 24 hrs would be fair.

Dunno, JMO,

Pat

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You might want to also have the option of only renting it for 24 hrs. Because, $100 and a weekend is reasonable if you have, like, 50+ birds to process; but if you only have a dozen, it does not make much financial sense. Yet I would bet there are some dozen-chickens people out there who'd still be interested, at a lower rate.

I think a lot of it (for the smaller number of chickens) is psychological, but that's real too I mean, for a dozen chickens it does not take long to pluck them by hand if you have scalded them correctly BUT it seems like people with just a relatively few chickens are also more apt to be inexperienced or a bit squeamish about the whole thing so I bet you would still find takers for a rental if the price was right.

I am not sure whether I'd rent a plucker for just a dozen chickens -- although because I work alone and am usually very time-limited, I *might* -- but if I did, I would think that something like $40 for 24 hrs would be fair.

Dunno, JMO,

Pat

You know what's weird is that I'll hand pluck turkeys all day long, but broilers are for some reason way harder. THey're smaller, but they just are a PITA to pluck. I mean, it's do able, but it's such a headache! Even when we scalded them properly it was way more difficult than the big turkeys.

Yeah, we could definitely do an option for just 24 hours...or even by the hour!

 

[miss_thenorth]

We do between 25-50 meat birds a year. Usually 50. (which works out to a chicken dinner a week till next batch is done) At $2.80 a bird, I'd pay the abbattoir $140. There is no way I'd rent a plucker for $40 less than what the abbattoir charges, and I dont have to get my hands dirty. But in all honesty, I wouldn't want it for the whole weekend. It would be a one day project. We do spent hens and young cockerals by ourselves with no plucker--they are much easier. If, as Pat suggests, $40 for a day, that would be more managable, and I might be inclined to rent it.