Making a living with the job of "plucking" poultry

When the sky broke into the morning, the chicken and duck slaughterhouses deep in every corner of the market were already lit up. With the help of modern machinery, plucking chicken and duck feathers was no longer as hard as before, helping many people earn extra income to take care of their family life.

Chickens and ducks are cleaned of feathers by machine within 2 - 5 minutes - Photo: TP

Ngo Dong Market, Cam Lo District has 3 chicken and duck slaughterhouses operating regularly to serve the needs of local people. Inside each slaughterhouse there are always 1-2 pots of steaming boiling water; chicken and duck plucking machines; hand plucking machines along with a jumble of basins, pots, knives, scissors...

Posing as a customer, the reporter stopped in front of a slaughterhouse where a few people were waiting to pick up chickens and ducks after they had been slaughtered. Receiving the chicken from a customer, Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Huyen, the owner of the slaughterhouse, said enthusiastically: "You just leave the chicken here, I will finish it in about 5 minutes. If you are busy, just go ahead and come back later to get it!"

According to our observations, after the chicken was bled and blanched in boiling water, Ms. Huyen put it into the plucking machine and turned on the power source. The machine is designed with a stainless steel cage, inside there are many rubber knobs tightly attached around the cage. When the machine is operating, the rubber knobs will rub against the body of the poultry, helping to remove feathers quickly without causing bruises or skin tears. After 1-2 minutes, Ms. Huyen took the chicken out, quickly gutted it and cleaned the intestines and gizzards before delivering it to the customer. Her family's facility currently has 3 workers. Even though it is a normal day, everyone has to work almost non-stop, each person doing their own job so that the customer does not have to wait long.

Having done this job for over 5 years now, according to Ms. Huyen, thanks to the support of machines, it is not too hard, and the time to make each chicken or duck is greatly shortened. However, on days when there are many orders, she will start the oven early.

“On average, we make 20-30 chickens and ducks of all kinds every day at a price of VND10,000/chicken; VND15,000/duck. During Tet, the price may be higher because of increased customer demand,” said Ms. Huyen while cleaning up the pile of chicken and duck feathers she had just made. Although it is not her main job, this job helps her earn a good income. In addition to slaughtering poultry for hire, she also sells ready-made chickens and ducks and earns a small amount from selling duck feathers. Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Van, a customer, shared: “My family likes to eat duck but is very afraid of the feather plucking step. Since I learned about this chicken and duck slaughtering service, I have had less trouble. I only have to wait about 5-7 minutes and I have a clean duck, and when I get home, I just need to prepare delicious dishes.”

A poultry slaughterhouse in Cam Lo town - Photo: TP

Compared to Ms. Huyen, Ms. Tran Thi Luan has a poultry slaughterhouse at a small market in Ho Xa town, Vinh Linh district, and has been doing this job for nearly 15 years. Recalling the early days, she said: Before, I had to do this work entirely by hand. Every night when I came home, my ten fingertips were almost completely skinned from being soaked in water and the number of chickens and ducks I processed each day was not much. "Later, seeing the high demand from customers, I decided to invest nearly 8 million to buy a poultry plucking machine and then gradually purchased other equipment such as a manual feather plucking machine. Thanks to that, I had less trouble, and the number of chickens and ducks I received each day was also more," Ms. Luan shared.

According to Ms. Luan, calling it a “job” is just for show, but this is simply manual labor, and if you are diligent, anyone can do it. On a normal day, it is not too tiring, but during Tet, you have to work hard from morning to evening. There are days when there are so many orders that she cannot finish all the work, and has to mobilize the whole family to help in order to deliver the goods to customers on time.

“Although it is a bit hard, struggling all day in a cramped, smelly slaughterhouse, in return, this job brings income equal to a normal day’s work. Now that there are machines, putting chickens in the machine for about 2-3 minutes, over 95% of the feathers are clean,” Ms. Luan confided. Although she did not disclose her total monthly income from this job, this woman said that thanks to this job, she has the conditions to raise her children to study properly, not to be inferior to their friends.

Not only Ms. Huyen and Ms. Luan, but nowadays, the job of plucking feathers and slaughtering chickens and ducks for hire has gradually become the main occupation of many workers. Because there is a high demand from customers, the work is not too hard and the income is stable.

However, besides the reputable and clean slaughterhouses, the market is still flooded with dirty poultry slaughterhouses that do not ensure hygiene and safety. Some people only focus on profits and secretly use "super-fast" poultry cleaning chemicals, affecting the health of customers. Therefore, in order to have a stable and long-term customer base, each poultry slaughterhouse for rent needs to pay attention to and prioritize safety and cleanliness, putting the interests of consumers first.

Ms. Truong Thi Ngoc, a consumer, shared: “With facilities that slaughter chickens and ducks, housewives like us can save a lot of time to do other things. What consumers care about most is not only price but also ensuring cleanliness and safety.”

Nam Phuong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/muu-sinh-voi-nghe-vat-long-gia-cam-192132.htm