I asked this on another board I belong to. But I think we have more small enterprise type folks on here.
Like a lot of farmers I know, I process my own birds for sale under the small enterprise exemption. This year, I increased my sale outlets, so I obviously need to increase my numbers. I did maybe 50 last year. Probably will do 250 this year. I've helped out at a couple places with a Featherman setup, and encountered my first. Poultryman setup last year. Like them both, but think the Poultryman is just going to be too $$$$$.
I had planned to get through this year with a propane burner turkey fryer as my scalder, and a whiz bang plucker rented from another farm in the area as needed. Some issues have cropped up:
1) while I'm darn quick at actually processing, being a one-woman show in life means that I don't always get to processing when i plan to, or don't get as much done as I'd intended. I've had the rental plucker over a week, and still have 5 chickens out of 12 to finish.
2) they're surely going to need the plucker back soon. And it is much heavier than I anticipated. Heavier than a commercially made one. Hard to load and unload without 3 strong people.
3) plucker isn't big enough to do medium turkeys.
4) while I know lots of people who use the propane turkey fryer to scald, I think they must have one person doing nothing but coddling it the whole time. They have timers that turn them off every 15 minutes. I've resorted to setting an alarm on my phone so I know when to run over and reset it. And I have to make sure I'm not in the middle of actually killing a chicken, which involves both hands dirty.
I'm frustrated and considering splashing out on a Featherman turkey sized setup. I guess I'm just looking for feedback from people who own their own equipment. At what volume did you feel it paid for itself? Are you making money off of other things like custom processing with it? I realize that's not an option in every state, but it is in mine. And I do get requests from people to process their birds.
Based on my experience helping at places who have a setup, the scalder will be a real time saver. I'm spending more time babysitting the turkey fryer than it takes me to actually process. And I can only fit one bird in at a time. And none of my turkeys would ever fit in it. I just hesitate because the cost is equal to aomethibg like a Ford 8N with a bushhog. Which I will need soon, too.
Like a lot of farmers I know, I process my own birds for sale under the small enterprise exemption. This year, I increased my sale outlets, so I obviously need to increase my numbers. I did maybe 50 last year. Probably will do 250 this year. I've helped out at a couple places with a Featherman setup, and encountered my first. Poultryman setup last year. Like them both, but think the Poultryman is just going to be too $$$$$.
I had planned to get through this year with a propane burner turkey fryer as my scalder, and a whiz bang plucker rented from another farm in the area as needed. Some issues have cropped up:
1) while I'm darn quick at actually processing, being a one-woman show in life means that I don't always get to processing when i plan to, or don't get as much done as I'd intended. I've had the rental plucker over a week, and still have 5 chickens out of 12 to finish.
2) they're surely going to need the plucker back soon. And it is much heavier than I anticipated. Heavier than a commercially made one. Hard to load and unload without 3 strong people.
3) plucker isn't big enough to do medium turkeys.
4) while I know lots of people who use the propane turkey fryer to scald, I think they must have one person doing nothing but coddling it the whole time. They have timers that turn them off every 15 minutes. I've resorted to setting an alarm on my phone so I know when to run over and reset it. And I have to make sure I'm not in the middle of actually killing a chicken, which involves both hands dirty.
I'm frustrated and considering splashing out on a Featherman turkey sized setup. I guess I'm just looking for feedback from people who own their own equipment. At what volume did you feel it paid for itself? Are you making money off of other things like custom processing with it? I realize that's not an option in every state, but it is in mine. And I do get requests from people to process their birds.
Based on my experience helping at places who have a setup, the scalder will be a real time saver. I'm spending more time babysitting the turkey fryer than it takes me to actually process. And I can only fit one bird in at a time. And none of my turkeys would ever fit in it. I just hesitate because the cost is equal to aomethibg like a Ford 8N with a bushhog. Which I will need soon, too.