7 Best Whizbang Poultry Pluckers For Market Gardens Old Farmers Swear By

Processing day. The scalding tank is steaming, the cones are ready, and a crate of broilers is waiting. The single biggest bottleneck between you and a freezer full of clean, market-ready birds isn’t the dispatching—it’s the feathers. Hand-plucking even a dozen birds is a tedious, wrist-straining chore that can turn a morning’s work into an all-day ordeal. A good mechanical plucker changes everything, transforming the most dreaded task into one of the fastest, and choosing the right one for your scale is one of the most important equipment decisions you’ll make.

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The Original DIY Whizbang Plucker from Kimball Plans

Before you could order a plucker off the internet, you built one. The Whizbang plucker, based on Herrick Kimball’s legendary plans, is the foundation for nearly every tub-style plucker on the market today. It’s not a product you buy, but a project you build from a food-grade barrel, a motor, a simple pulley system, and a feather plate.

The appeal is obvious: you control the build quality and the cost. If you can scrounge a free barrel and a used washing machine motor, your initial outlay is just the cost of the plans, the fingers, and some hardware. You build it, so you know exactly how to fix it. This is the ultimate homesteader’s machine, born from ingenuity and necessity.

The tradeoff, of course, is your time and skill. A successful build requires basic tools, some mechanical aptitude, and the patience to get it right. An improperly balanced feather plate or a misaligned motor can lead to poor performance and frustration. But for those who value self-sufficiency and customization, building a Whizbang is a rewarding project that results in a powerful, repairable tool tailored perfectly to your needs.

Yardbird 21833: A Compact, Reliable Performer

The Yardbird is the plucker many small-scale farmers land on when they decide to buy instead of build. It’s a compact, well-designed machine that hits the sweet spot between backyard-scale and small commercial use. It’s not meant for processing hundreds of birds in a day, but for the farmer doing 25 to 75 birds at a time, it’s a game-changer.

Its design is practical. The integrated irrigation ring connects directly to a garden hose, providing the necessary water spray to flush feathers away. It’s relatively lightweight and has wheels, making it easy to move and store—a crucial feature when your processing area is also your driveway. The tub is sized perfectly for a couple of 4-5 pound broilers at a time, plucking them clean in about 15-30 seconds.

What you get with the Yardbird is reliability. It’s a known quantity. On processing day, the last thing you want is equipment failure, and this machine is built to simply work, season after season. It may not have the raw capacity of larger units, but its dependability and user-friendly design make it a workhorse for any serious homesteader or small market gardener.

VEVOR Pro Plucker: High Capacity for Market Days

When your flock size outgrows the capacity of a smaller plucker, you start looking for more throughput. This is where VEVOR enters the picture. They are known for producing heavy-duty equipment at a price point that makes scaling up accessible. Their larger pluckers can handle 2-4 chickens at once, and some models can even tackle a small turkey.

This increased capacity is a massive time-saver. When you have 100 birds to get into the chiller before the afternoon heat sets in, shaving minutes off each batch adds up fast. VEVOR pluckers typically feature powerful motors and a large tub, focusing purely on the core function: removing feathers quickly.

The tradeoff is often in the fit and finish. You might find sharper edges on the stainless steel or a frame that’s functional but less refined than more expensive brands. But for many, this is a perfectly acceptable compromise. You’re getting a high-capacity machine for a fraction of the cost of premium competitors, allowing you to invest that saved capital elsewhere in your operation. It’s a pragmatic choice for the farmer focused on production volume.

Kitchener Plucker: Durability for Season-Long Use

The Kitchener plucker is built for the long haul. Think of it as a step up in overall ruggedness, designed for the farmer who processes birds consistently throughout the season, not just in one or two large batches. The focus here is on robust construction and durability under repeated use.

You’ll typically see heavier-gauge stainless steel, a more protected motor housing, and a sturdier frame. These aren’t just cosmetic features; they translate to a machine that can handle being moved around, cleaned aggressively, and run for hours on end without issue. It’s the kind of tool you buy with the expectation that it will be a core part of your farm’s infrastructure for a decade.

This durability comes at a higher price, but it’s an investment in peace of mind. For a market farm that relies on a steady supply of processed poultry, equipment downtime is lost revenue. The Kitchener is for the operator who can’t afford a breakdown mid-season and is willing to pay a premium for a machine that is unequivocally built to last.

Coops & Feathers EZ-Plucker 131 for Small Flocks

Not everyone is raising 100 broilers for market. For the homesteader with a flock of 20 dual-purpose birds, a large-capacity plucker is overkill—too expensive, too big, and too much to clean. The Coops & Feathers EZ-Plucker 131 is designed specifically for this smaller scale.

This machine is typically smaller, lighter, and designed to pluck one or two birds at a time. It’s the perfect bridge between tedious hand-plucking and a full-sized tub plucker. It still automates the most difficult part of the process, turning a 15-minute hand-plucking job into a 30-second mechanical one.

The value proposition is clear: it makes processing a small batch of birds for your own freezer fast and efficient without the financial commitment or storage footprint of a larger unit. It’s the right-sized tool for the job. For the family that just wants to be self-sufficient with their meat and eggs, this is often the most logical and economical choice.

Stark USA 550W Plucker: A Powerful Budget Option

Sometimes, the decision comes down to pure economics. You need a machine that works, you need it now, and the budget is tight. The Stark USA plucker is a strong contender in this category, offering a powerful motor and a functional design at a highly competitive price.

Like other budget-friendly brands, the focus is on the core mechanics. It has a motor that spins a feather plate, and it will de-feather a chicken. It delivers the essential function you need to get through processing day without the higher cost associated with premium brands or more refined features.

The compromise is what you’d expect. The materials may be lighter, the assembly might require a bit more attention to detail, and it may not have the longevity of a top-tier brand. However, for someone just starting out or for whom the plucker will only be used a few times a year, it’s a perfectly rational choice. It solves the immediate problem—the mountain of birds that need plucking—without breaking the bank.

Sportsman Series PLKR110 for Turkey and Large Fowl

A chicken plucker is not a turkey plucker. Anyone who has tried to stuff a 25-pound tom into a standard-sized tub learns this lesson the hard way. The Sportsman Series PLKR110 is an example of a machine built specifically for larger birds, and the design differences are crucial.

First, the tub diameter is significantly larger to accommodate the bigger carcass. Second, the motor is more powerful to handle the increased weight and resistance. Finally, the rubber fingers are often tougher and spaced farther apart to deal with the thick, stubborn feathers of a mature turkey or goose.

If you only raise broilers, this machine is unnecessary. But if Thanksgiving turkeys are a key part of your farm’s annual rhythm, a dedicated large-fowl plucker is a non-negotiable tool. It ensures a clean pluck without damaging the skin and prevents you from overloading and potentially burning out the motor on a smaller machine.

Josie’s Pluckers Fingers: The Universal Upgrade

No matter which plucker you own, its performance is only as good as its fingers. The fingers are the point of contact; they do all the work. Over time, they can become stiff, worn, or torn, leading to a poor pluck, bruised skin, and mounting frustration. Josie’s Pluckers is a name that comes up again and again for one reason: they make excellent replacement fingers.

Upgrading the stock fingers on a budget plucker with a set from Josie’s is perhaps the single most effective improvement you can make. Their fingers are known for being durable yet flexible, a combination that allows them to remove feathers efficiently without tearing the delicate skin of a well-scalded bird. They offer different hardness levels, allowing you to fine-tune your plucker for the type of poultry you process most often.

Think of it this way: a budget plucker with great fingers will almost always outperform a premium plucker with worn-out fingers. Whether you’re building a Whizbang from scratch or breathing new life into an old machine, investing in high-quality fingers is money well spent. It’s a small detail that has a massive impact on your final product.

Ultimately, the best plucker is the one that matches your scale, your budget, and your birds. Whether it’s a DIY Whizbang, a compact Yardbird, or a high-capacity VEVOR, the goal is the same. You’re not just buying a piece of equipment; you are buying back your time and energy on one of the most physically demanding days on the farm, ensuring your hard work results in a beautiful, clean bird ready for the table or market.