Turkey in the killing cone

After the bird is in the cone, pull its head out by the lower beak and hold it firmly.  Your thumb should be able to sit firmly in the "V" of the beak and your forefinger should hold the jaw firmly on the inside.  Yes, the bird will try to close its beak; and no, it won't really hurt you.

Have a helper hold the bird's feet out of the cone, or, barring that use a short bungee cord and wrap it around the lower shanks.  Try not to hold or wrap a cord above the hocks, because it can bruise the skin.

The first cut to sever the jugular vein and carotid artery are made just behind the tendon attachment for the beak and tongue. You can feel the hard cartilaginous piece behind the jaw attachment and ear canal. 

Make sure you have absolutely sharp knives for this process.  The sharper the knife, the cleaner the cut and the bird will bleed out faster and more completely. 

Location of the first cut.  Hold the lower beak firmly with your thumb and forefinger.

Be prepared to deal with the blood, which will flow over your hands and even squirt out the side of the neck, if you only nick the carotid artery instead of severing it. 

Hang a weight on the lower beak immediately following the cuts.  I use an old section of iron pipe, but many old poultry books show a tin can with lead poured in the bottom.  Put the sharp point of the hanging hook through the skin of the lower jaw, where your thumb was during the cut. 

Blood weight holding the head down

Hold the feet and spray the cut with water to keep the blood from coagulating.

After slitting the throat, the blood pressure drops and bird goes into shock.  In a very few seconds, the bird will be unconscious.  As the bird dies, it will convulse and flap.  It really can't feel anything - but this is always one of the most stressful parts of butchering.   The cone will hold the bird relatively still and keep the bird from bruising itself or breaking bones in this process.

Pluck the main tail feathers, and the larger tail coverts before dunking the bird in the scald tank.  Picking these feathers makes it easier to see what you're doing in the scalding tank, and keeps these feathers nice if you want to save them.

Check the temperature of the scalding water - it should be at 135 -140 degrees.  Too cool, and the scald is not effective.  Too hot, and the skin of the bird can be damaged, or even partially cooked.

Lower the bird headfirst in the scalding tank, being careful not to drop the bird and splash hot water on yourself.  Hold the bird by the feet.

Swirl the bird in the scalding water, moving the bird up and down and through the water.  Keep the bird as submerged as possible, to ensure even scalding of the legs.  The key point is to wet the bird down to the skin without cooling the scalding water.  Keep the bird moving to keep hot water next to the skin.  The bird should be in the tank for approximately 30 full seconds. In general, the older the bird, the longer you'll have to scald - and the younger the bird, the shorter. 

Check the effectiveness of the scald by rubbing your thumb against the grain of the feathers on the leg.  They should come off easily.  Further test the scald by plucking a large feather like a wing primary feather.  If it comes out relatively easily, the bird is ready to come out of the scalding tank.  If the feathers are difficult to pluck, dip and swirl again, to a point.  If a bird is scalded too long, it damages the skin and makes it easy to tear.  It can actually start to liquefy the fat under the skin, which shortens the length of time poultry can be stored in the freezer or fridge.

Lay the bird on the processing table, and remove the feathers by rubbing them off with your thumb and fingers against the grain.  Keep your fingers in contact with the surface of the skin, and it will go faster than plucking each individual feather.

Rough picking at this stage is fine - don't try to get all the feathers at once.  Yanking a handful of feathers off can tear the skin - use a rubbing motion at the base of the feathers to remove them.