I had bought about 5 lbs of free range foster farms chicken thighs and every thigh was covered in feather quills. It was in 4 different packages so I'm not really convinced it was a one off.
I usually buy a different brand and have never had this problem before.
Do you guys usually spend the time to pluck the feathers yourself or just bin it?
Mechanical pluckers are not perfect, probably had a few too many fingers break off and nobody caught it until after the batch was finished
I'd pluck them and cook it anyway. No need to waste the meat over what's ultimately a cosmetic only problem.
If you don't want to pluck the feathers and you are still considering binning it- please give it to someone else instead. A neighbour, a relative, a friend, etc.
Don't throw away good food! Pluck it or give it to someone else.
