DEVELOPMENT OF A POULTRY DE-FEATHERING MACHINE WITH AN ADJUSTABLE BASIN

Abstract

Removing poultry feathers by hand is time consuming, tasking and becoming obsolete. Development of a poultry de-feathering machine is a mechanical process of removing poultry feathers so as to overcome the existing challenges. This work aims at producing a poultry de-feathering machine with an adjustable basin for accommodating poultries of varying sizes. Locally available materials were used for the development of the machine. Design calculations were effectively done so as to ensure correct shaft diameter as this could affect the efficiency of the machine. The machine consists of rubber pluckers which do the actual plucking of the feathers. The rubber pluckers are attached to a base plate which rotates against a stationary basin carrying protruding rubber pluckers. The base plate was powered by 1 Hp electric motor and was set to rotate at 180 rpm using a speed reduction mechanism. Test was carried out on the machine using three chickens successively. First, the chickens were soaked inside a hot water (temperature of about 80 °C) for approximately 60 s. Thereafter, the soaked chickens were sequentially put inside the adjustable basin and the machine was switched on. The machine removed the chicken feathers without any major damage to the chickens in an average time of 21 s. The machine efficiency for each of the three runs was calculated and average efficiency was found to be approximately 96%. The machine performed efficiently and effectively, leaving behind products that meet market standard.