The equipment: plucker, scalder, cones, tables, cold room, and how to choose them without mistakes
Slaughterhouse equipment is chosen once and endured for ten years. A plucker that is too small forces a second pass and tears the skins; a scalder without a thermostat cooks the 10 o'clock carcasses; a cold room sized "by eye" no longer goes below 4 °C when the day's lot enters warm. This lesson reviews each piece of equipment of a unit of 300 to 500 chickens a day: what it is for, what capacity it needs, what settings, and above all the criteria that let you choose without mistakes, without talking about prices: you will put in your own.
15 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006This lesson is part of Slaughterhouse and processing specialisation. It opens to every registered student, from free registration. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
Slaughterhouse equipment is chosen once and endured for ten years. A plucker that is too small forces a second pass and tears the skins; a scalder without a thermostat cooks the 10 o'clock carcasses; a cold room sized "by eye" no longer goes below 4 °C when the day's lot enters warm. This lesson reviews each piece of equipment of a unit of 300 to 500 chickens a day: what it is for, what capacity it needs, what settings, and above all the criteria that let you choose without mistakes, without talking about prices: you will put in your own.
- ✓Size each piece of equipment (cones, scalder, plucker, tables, chilling tubs, cold) for 300 to 500 chickens a day
- ✓Give the settings of a scalder (52 to 60 °C depending on the product) and of a plucker, and check them
- ✓Calculate the cold room and freezing volume needed from the day's carcass weight
- ✓Apply a grid of selection criteria (material, capacity, cleanability, spare parts, service, consumption) to any equipment purchase
- The rule of five criteria
- Dirty zone: cones, scalder, plucker
- Clean zone: tables, tubs, measuring tools
- The cold: cold room, freezing, storage
- The complete list and the power balance
- Going further
- •Five selection criteria: material (food-grade stainless steel), peak capacity + 30 %, cleanability, parts and service in Côte d'Ivoire, consumption; the price is yours.
- •Dirty zone for 130 chickens an hour: 8 to 12 cones, 200 to 300 L scalder with thermostat (52 to 60 °C depending on the product, water renewed every 100 to 150 chickens), plucker of 6 to 8 chickens per cycle with spare fingers.
- •Clean zone: stainless tables at 85-90 cm with a water point per station, two chilling tubs of 200 to 300 L (8-10 °C then 0-2 °C), ice 0.7 to 1 kg per kilo of carcass, probe thermometer, checked scale, timer, colour-coded knives and 82 °C steriliser.
- •Cold for 400 chickens a day: positive room 6 m³ (150 to 200 kg/m³), freezing 250 kg a day (blast cell or chest freezers loaded to one third), negative room 8 m³ (300 to 400 kg/m³), condensing unit in the shade and ventilated.
- •Power balance 15 to 25 kW all-electric, 8 to 12 kW with gas scalding; generator for the cold and lighting; try the equipment before buying.