Herrick Kimball’s book Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Chicken Plucker, as described by its publisher:
A Whizbang plucker will pick the feathers off chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese in a matter of seconds. Every component needed to make the machine is thoroughly discussed and the construction process is carefully detailed, step by step. There are 62 clear drawings…. Commercial tub pluckers cost $2,000+ but this book tells the reader how to build a comparable unit for $500 or less.
This video shows a chicken-plucking machine based on the same principles:
And there are other videos, showing similar accomplishments. (Thanks to investigator Vernon Burr for bringing the book to our attention.)
Fun Fact: Author Herrick Kimball has an instructive essay, copiously supplemented with photographs, called “The Fun, Fast Way to Skin a Deer“. The method involves a golf ball.