Watch This Before Buying a Yard Bird Chicken Plucker (Vlog 38)

If you are in the market for a chicken plucker... PLEASE... WATCH THIS VIDEO on the YARDBIRD CHICKEN PLUCKER. We recently bought a Yardbird Chicken Plucker and had over 100 chickens to process... needless to say...it didn't quite go as planned. We hope this video helps you choose the right plucker for you. We'd love to hear your feedback.

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Thanks again!
Jay & Cheryl

Intro and Outro music by - Adrian von Ziegler

[CelticRootsFarm]

We are HONESTLY happy to hear if your Yardbird works for you and that you haven’t had problems with it. We wish we could have said the same, however…

No return policy and no service department is a BIG DEAL!

We were in no way expecting a $400 chicken plucker to work as well as a more expensive one. However, we did expect it to at least work. We bought one that we thought would fit our needs (about 100 chickens a year) and within our price range. I get it... I generally use the rule of thumb that, “you get what you pay for.” We simply didn’t have an extra $1000 laying around at this time.

If we knew to take precautionary steps to protect the equipment before we used it, we would have. The company agreed with me about the flaws...So, If a company knows there is a flaw, why not take steps to address that issue or at least warn people about them?

The wheels were actually mentioned as something that made us want to buy the plucker because we liked the idea of it being portable. Could they bigger? Yes... but no biggie.

Something that was left out and not mentioned in the video (editing mistake on my part) was that the motor was making a horrible grinding noise and slowed the spin of the plucker dramatically.

Our biggest complaints are this...

The lack of responsibility on the part of Yard Bird. This was a brand new unit- right out of the box and it broke after plucking 7 chickens.

We were responsible for diagnosing and fixing the unit. Which I tried and did everything they suggested, and it still didn’t work.

They DO NOT provide a service center or any refunds at all. If they had either, there wouldn’t be any need for this video.

Purchasing this through Amazon was the only reason we were able to get a refund.

[inannashu]

Most companies take customer feed back seriously, the fact she said you could put one on yourself says a lot. Glad I watched this before I bought mine. Thanks

[dondale]

Thanks for taking a few minutes to gives us all a warning. Definitely need more folks willing to give true reviews and save others a few bucks!!!

[jasonhack-vd]

I’ve Had a yard bird for 3 years now and have run over 500 birds through it w no problems. After the first year I did attach a pice of down spout tubing to the drain to help keep the water and feathers away from the motor.

[cristinasorina]

Thank you for this review. I just bought one, spur of the moment decision, and didn’t open it yet. I’m returning it today or tomorrow based on this review. I work hard for my money and don’t want to waste it on sub par equipment that’s poorly engineered. Thank you again!

[ronwertz]

Hi guys, appreciate your review. Someone might have spoken to the issue of the GFI tripping...if not, consider this thought. Many of the machines we use here at Under Our Care have these corded GFI breakers. These breakers are designed for a cord 6 to 10 feet long. If you run your Yardbird unit with an extension cord, this may be your issue. If you are plugging the unit into a 20 amp protected receptacle, you are likely to trip your corded GFI in short order. If you use an extension cord, consider a 25-foot 12 to 14-gauge cord. Just a thought, again, thank you for taking the time to do this review, it was very informative, yet not overly critical.

[daughterofthemosthighgod]

I'm glad you were able to get your money back. Stay blessed!

[thefrenchgardener]

I am VERY grateful for your video and commentary. I agree, when one buys a product you have the right to expect it to work perfectly without all the issues you encountered. Yardbird needs to pay your back 100% and any shipping coasts. They ought to pay you also for the quality control advice and suggestions you gave them. When I company refuses to listen to a customer, that company needs a wake up call. I hope you contacted Consumer Affairs and Better Business Bureau and YELP also. I will not buy a Yardbird unit because I am not as mechanically inclined as you obviously are. Thanks again!

[underestimated]

Thank you so much for doing this review! Good to hear that you're not getting stuck with it! This helps my husband and I as we're making a decision on which one to go with for chickens.

[tclodfelter]

GREAT review for a POORLY designed unit!! I'm looking to buy a plucker and this information is something I hadn't even considered to look at!! Thank you!! Subscribed!!!

[douglasparsons]

I have one and am very much happy with it

[tommiller]

I have had great luck with my Yardbird! I use a 12 gauge extension cord and do not have GCFI issues.

I use a five gallon bucket, with a side cut out and covered by a large mesh screen, to trap fathers and direct water away. I have not had a problem with the motor drawing up feathers or moisture.

I don't like where the on/off switch is and am considering making some kind of modification, but all in all, it's not that big of an issue.

While the wheels are small, I usually trailer it to the location and wheel it off the trailer.

Last year we plucked a hundred chickens during a one half day of butchering and the unit used flawlessly.

In two weeks we will be doing another large batch of chickens. I'll relay any issues if they arise, but if you don't see a follow up comment, the unit worked fine!

So far I am happy with the unit and would buy a second one if needed!

[MimsysGarden]

I am sooo glad to see someone put out an honest review of a product. I know that was possibly a big financial hit, praying God returns that money to you ten fold because I'm sure you just saved lots of folks some hard earned cash! Great job!! Love love love your logo and channel name.

[saraperezsanders]

Thank you for your honest review. Save us the same headache

[jimcolborn]

A BIG Thank you for the review. I was just going to place a order for this model and don't know what made me look but I found your comments and video a real eye opener. I since went to coops and more as you recommended and was more then happy with the quality of their construction. They are a little more money but by all indications they look built with more thought plus from their website-Satisfaction Guaranteed

Selling Quality Products To Make Life Easier.

That is what I like. A USA based company.

Thanks again.

[briangroover]

We had the problem with the magnet misalignment shutting down the unit altogether. That was a hassle to figure out, but getting them aligned makes it work.

Otherwise, it's worked well for us. About a hundred CX plucked so far. Removal of the drum for cleaning is a major plus. Largest bird plucked was 13.6 lbs, cleaned.

I agree about the portability with the wheels. To move it out of the barn for processing, I pull the drum off before rolling it out. I also stuck a 4' bar clamp on the forward leg for the rolling, then take it off so it isn't in the way. Makes it very easy, even with the drum on. I've thought about picking up some cheap larger wheels, but it's easy enough with the clamp that it isn't worth it.

For the chute, I stuck a contractor bag on the chute with a bungee, and leave the bag in the bucket. If too much water gets in the bag, I poke a hole in the bottom. The bucket has a drain hole, too.

We haven't had any issues with feathers clogging the motor intake. I suspect not controlling the output chute is the reason why you had that happen.

Overall, would I buy it again? Yes, but not if I wasn't willing to tweak it to make it work for me.

[nomadsadventures]

Hey, thank you for watching and commenting on the video I made about the Yardbird plucker. When I do my next batch of chickens I will do an update on my unit. I appreciate your insight on some of the issues you had. I completely agree with you, if I purchase something I expected to work.

Also, you have my subscription.

[mariagamez]

Thank you for the heads up. You gave alot of very detailed explanations that I found to be very helpful.

[danielflores]

Thanks alot for your time to make this reveiw i was thinking to buy one very similar but now i have to think twice again thank u very much

[tonystreeter]

Thank you very much for that. Review change my mind