Necessity really is the mother of invention.... 

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Back  in 1999, I my family was raising chickens for meat. After hand-plucking our first crop of birds, I realized that we needed a chicken plucking machine. But I couldn't justify the high cost of an already-made plucker.

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I had used a tub plucker and knew that was exactly what I wanted. With a tub plucker, you just flip a switch, drop your birds in the tub, and watch while the machine takes all the feathers off. It happens in a matter of seconds (15 to 20), and it's an amazing sight to behold—especially if you've  spent any time hand-plucking the feathers off a chicken.

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I looked on the internet for plans to build my own plucker but there were none. That presented me with a creative opportunity, and I love creative opportunities. In time (it took a couple of years) I developed my own simple, inexpensive, homemade tub plucker. The thing worked so doggone good that I named it the Whizbang plucker. "Whizbang" is a dictionary word that means, "conspicuous for speed, excellence, or startling effect." It is the perfect name.

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I call my invention a "chicken plucker" but the design I show in my plan book will also pluck turkeys, ducks, and geese. Be sure to read the Whizbang Plucker FAQ for specific details.

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In 2002 I self-published 100 copies of my 60-page plucker plan book at a local copy shop. The book told and showed other backyard and small-farm poultry producers how to easily make their own Whizbang Plucker.

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Since then, the book has sold nearly 30,000 copies. Thousands of homemade Whizbangs are now dependably plucking poultry all across America, and in at least a dozen other countries around the globe. My goal is a Whizbang Plucker in every garage in America. At this point, I think it's safe to say there is at least one Whizbang in every rural community in America.

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It turns out that my humble plucker has been (and continues to be) an integral part of the grassroots movement back to personal and localized food production. It's a beautiful thing.

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I still use the Whizbang plucker that started this whole phenomenon. For nearly two decades it has dependably plucked the meat birds my family raises for ourselves each year. And it has plucked literally thousands of other birds, as I freely loan the machine to numerous friends and neighbors when they need it.

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After all those years, and all those birds, my original Whizbang doesn't look as "pretty" as when it was new, but it still plucks chickens as well as the day I made it. If you follow my plans, your homemade Whizbang plucker will do the same for you.

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My plucker plan book tells you everything you need to know to build your own Whizbang chicken plucker. It's all in the book.

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CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of the plucker plan book.

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CLICK HERE to go back to the Plucker Parts page.

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