DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF CHICKEN DEFEATHERING

MACHINE

08107788058, 08158648531

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Chicken defethering machine is a process that’s involves plucking of

chicken feather using machine to scrap it out. This can be said to rotating the
chicken insides the drum containing fingers pluckers for pulling out the feather due
centrifugal forces. One of the steps in bird processing before it reaches the end
product for cooking is de-feathering of the bird. Defeathering involves removing
feathers from the slaughtered birds. Traditionally, in this part of the world it is
done manually by the use of hand after it has been soaked in hot water for few
minutes. This process results in low output, time consuming, tedious and could
lead to injury. In order to avoid all of these challenges, there is need to design and
develop a machine from locally sourced material. David (1999) stated that it takes
an average time of 5minutes for a person to de-feather a bird while the machine
processing of a bird which is lowered in a hot water of about temperature 80 oc –
85oc takes 40 – 50 seconds. Buckland (2005) reported that the objective of a
centralized poultry processing paltry of any scale of operation is to produce
hygienic, wholesome, attractive and saleable of consistent appearance and quality
of high standard. Ogundipe (2002) reported that de-feathering machine saves time,
easy to operate and better picking is achieved. (Glenn, J., 1998)
 Mechanical de-feathering employs various de-feather mechanism such as
rubber finger, rotating plate, drum and angle bar mechanism. This is done after
slaughtering the birds which is accompanied by bleeding period. The carcass is
removed and lowered into a tank of heated water to a certain temperature and
plucked. The use of de-feathering machine in processing poultry has contributed
tremendously to the successful processing of dressed and hygienic chicken for
consumption. The de-feathering machine overcomes the tediousness, time
consumption, messy, nasty and discouragement in that of hand de-feathering. Also,
there is mass production of processed chicken in de-feathering machine than hand
de-feathering. De-feathering which form one of the important tasks in poultry
processing particularlywhen manual method are used exposes workers to work
musculoskeletal disorder, cuts, skinrashes, dermatitis and avian influenza virus.
Solutions to some of these problems weresuggestions from research findings
(Scolt, 2000). The energy audit of some poultry processingplants with specific
survey of five deferent relevant unit operations revealed that scalding andde-
feathering is the most energy intensive unit operation accounting for 44% of the
totalenergy consumption in the processing (Jekayinfa, 2007). Level of human
exposure tooccupational risk and other health hazard resulting from intense manual
operation is significant in scalding and de-feathering operations. This calls for
effective mechanization ofthe process which will support quality, safe, ergonomic
and economic operation. Variousmachines have also been developed for de-
feathering process which can handle either largeor few number of birds (Glenn,
1998). However their demand and acceptance are differentfrom one country to the
other. Some years ago for instance, Nigerian government placeembargo on the
importation of some poultry processed meat. This step placed a boost on
theoperation of local poultry Industry and allied. There are large number of large
scaleprocessing plants currently located around the world but small sized of
household capacityare scarcely found.(Barbut, 2002).

Homemade scalders: When first starting out, some small- scale producers
use a large stockpot in the backyard heated with a fire. On-farm processorshave
also used propane burners (from outdoor turkey fryers), water bath pots made
forcanning, and hospital sterilizers (common before the advent of the
autoclave).There are three ways in which feathers can be removed. Completely
from the chicken. The first is for broilers only and is by hand. The feathers are
simply pulled from the carcass and placed in a feather bin. This method takes a lot
of time. It is tedious and results in low output. The second method is by holding
the carcass against rubber fingers protruding from a continuously rotating
horizontal drum.

The drum rotates away from the operator and the feathers follow until they are
thrown towards the back of the machine. The bird is held with a leg in each hand
and laid firmly on its left breast on the rotating rubber fingers. It is agitated
backwards and forwards to pluck the left breast and thigh. The bird is turned over
to pluck the right breast and thigh. Both legs are taken in the left hand and the tail
feathers gripped in the right hand before pulling them out with a twisting
movement. The third method uses a bowl de-feather. Scaled birds, to a weight
specified by the manufacturer, are placed in the bowl de-feather chute which
passes into the body of the machine, the machine is stopped and a door to the
bottom of the machine is opened. The plucked carcasses emerge ready for further
processing.

Time taken in the bowl de-feather will depend on the nature of the bird, its age,
condition etc (David, 1999).
In Nigeria, fast food business is fast growing so also is the population of people
eating chicken during festivals (Christmas) and other ceremonies. There arise need
to design and develop a de-feathering machine that will be low cost, rugged,
simple, with locally sourced materials.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

i. The aim of this project is to design and construction of a chicken feather

remover/plucker, integrated with boiler for feather remover.

Specific objectives
ii. Designing an efficient low cost poultry feather plucker/remover with the
main objective of ensuring that the machine improves the hygiene, food
safety and defeathering processes in poultry meat production.

iii. The objective is to adapt to the conventional feather remover to the

society.

iv. To design a feather remover method that will be economical and low cost
effective.

v.  To design and construct a feather removing system that is efficient and
with little or no complication in maintenance

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORKS

This machine is important because the demand for chicken meat continues to
increase every year. These conditions impact on increasing demand for businesses
based chicken from a chicken farm, slaughter chickens, broilers seller, chicken
restaurants and chicken-based company. On the other hand, people also began to
care about the hygiene and quality of the chicken so chicken processing should be
supported with adequate facilities and equipment both in terms of efficiency,
quantity, quality and technology. Chicken processing in large quantities will also
make it difficult to control the level of hygiene and quality of chicken meat, if
processing is done manually. Therefore the use of appropriate technology is
needed, especially in the chicken slaughter and plucking chickens. The various
types of defeathering machine available are the Drum style de-feathering machine
and the horizontal defeathering machine. (Adeyinka,2015).

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The scope and limitation of this project is to fabricate an easy operated

defeathering machine that can be used at home, poultry, industries, butchering and
other places where chicken feather is needed to be removed.

It’slimited to area where small scales of chicken feather will be removed, due to
the sizes of the drum been specified in the design, containing six (6) chickens
below.
 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In the earlier age where removing of chicken feather is done manually,

Feather-plucking, sometimes termed feather-picking, feather damaging behavior or
pterotillomania, is a maladaptive, behavioral disorder commonly seen in captive
birds which chew, bite or pluck their own feathers with their beak, resulting in
damage to the feathers and occasionally the skin. It is especially common among
Psittaciformes, with an estimated 10% of captive parrots exhibiting the disorder.
The areas of the body that are mainly pecked or plucked are the more accessible
regions such as the neck, chest, flank, inner thigh and ventral wing area. Contour
and down feathers are generally identified as the main target, although in some
cases, tail and flight feathers are affected. Although feather-plucking shares
characteristics with feather pecking commonly seen in commercial poultry, the two
behaviors are currently considered to be distinct as in the latter, the birds peck at
and pull out the feathers of other individuals. Feather-plucking has characteristics
that are similar to trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder in humans, and
hair-pulling which has been reported in mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, sheep and
muskox, dogs and cats, leading to suggestions for a comparative psychology
approach to alleviating these problems.
2.1.1 DEFEATHERING

The carcasses then go through the feather-picking machines, which are equipped
with rubber “fingers” specifically designed to beat off the feathers. The carcasses
are moved through a sequence of machines, each optimized for removing different
sets of feathers. At this point the carcasses are usually singed by passing through a
flame that burns off any remaining feathers.

2.5 BOILER OF THE DEFEATHERING MACHINE

A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for scraping out the feather by
soften the heat produced and transfers heat to water until it becomes hot water or
steam. The hot water or steam under pressure is then usable for transferring
the heat to a process. Water is useful and cheap medium for transferring heatto a
process. When water is boiled into steam its volume increases about 1,600 times,
producing a force that is almost as explosive as gunpowder. This causes the boiler
to be extremely dangerous equipment and should be treated carefully. Liquid when
heated up to the gaseous state this process. The heating surface is any part of the
boiler; hot gases of combustion are on one side and water on the other. Any part of
theboiler metalthat actually contributes to makingsteam is heating.

The amount of heating surface of a boiler is expressed in square meters. The larger
the heating surface a boiler has, the more efficient it becomes. The boiler system is
made up of:

1. Feed water system

2. Steam system

3. Fuel system

The feed water system provides water to the boiler and regulates it automatically to
meet the steam demand. The water supplied to boiler that is converted to steam is
called feed water.

The sources of feed water are:

1. Condensate or condensed steam returned from the processes

2. Make up water which is the raw water which must come from outside.

The steam system collects and controls the steam produced in the boiler. Steam is
directed through a piping system to the point of use. Throughout the system, steam
pressure is regulated using valves and checked with steam pressure gauges. The
fuel system includes all equipment used to provide fuel to generate the necessary
heat. The equipments required in the fuel system depend on the type of fuel used in
the system. Boilers are pressure vessels designed to heat water or produce
steam, which can then be used to provide space heating and or service water
heating to a building In most commercial building heating applications, the
heating source in the boiler is a natural gas fired burner. Oil fired burners and
electric resistance heaters can be used as well. Steam is preferred over hot. water
in some applications, including absorption cooling, kitchens, laundries, sterilizers,
and steam driven equipment. Boilers have several strengths that have made them a
common feature of buildings. They have a long life, can achieve efficiencies up
to 95% or greater, provide an effective method of heating a building, and in the
case of steam systems, require little or no pumping energy. However, fuel costs
can be considerable, regular maintenance is required, and if maintenance is delayed
repair can be costly. Guidance for the construction, operation, and maintenance
of boilers is provided primarily by the ASME(American Society of Mechanical
Engineers), which produces the following resources, Rules for construction of
heating boilers, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IV-2007Recommended
rules for the care and operation of heating boilers , Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Code, Section VII-2007 Boilers are often one of the largest energy users in a
building. For every year a boiler system goes unattended, boiler costs can increase
approximately 10%. Boiler operation and maintenance is therefore a good place to
start when looking for ways to reduce energy use and save money.The steam
generator or boiler is an integral component of a steam engine when
considered as a prime mover. However it needs be treated separately, as to
some extent a variety of generator types can be combined with a variety of
engine units. A boiler incorporates a firebox or furnace in order to burn the fuel
and generate heat. The generated heat is transferred to water to make steam, the
process of boiling. This produces saturated steam at a rate which can vary
according to the pressure above the boiling water.
 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 MATERIAL SELECTION, DESIGN CONSIDERATION, AND

CALCULATION

3.1 MATERIAL SELECTION

There are several situations during the life cycle of a product when a design team
selects a material to use for a component or a joint between components – new
product development, cost reduction, improve product performance and reliability,
and improve manufacturing or assembly yields. Regardless of the situation, the
goals are the same – find the lowest cost material that enables the product’s
performance and reliability. There are several steps to the material selection
process. This article provides an overview of this process.

The performance, reliability, and cost of any product depends on the

performance, reliability, and cost of its components and the joints between
components. And the performance, reliability, and cost of components and joints
depend on two things:

i. Their physical construction and

ii. The materials of which they are made. Physical construction refers to shape
and dimensions. Examples of different physical constructions are shown in
the figure for two different size shafts and two different types of weld joints.

The performance, reliability, and cost of any product depends on the performance,
reliability, and cost of its components and the joints between components. And the
performance, reliability, and cost of components and joints depend on two things:

i. Their physical construction and

ii. The materials of which they are made.
Physical construction refers to shape and dimensions. Examples of different
physical constructions are shown in the figure for two different size shafts and two
different types of weld joints.

2.3.1. TRANSMISSION OF THE SPEED TO SHAFT SHEAVE

The shaft system which were used comprises of two sheaves. The bigger,
being the driven, is mounted on the shaft and the smaller sheave, the driver, is
mounted on the electric motor. Since the diameter of the sheave on the motor is
smaller, then there is reduction in speed (rpm) on transmission to the larger sheave
attached to the shaft. The speed of the motor is 1400rpm.In other to calculate the
speed that would be transmitted to the shaft, the following analyses were been
carried out:

N1 D1 = N2 D2

Where: