Processing Turkeys - Questions and Ranting??

[Wild-Turkey]

Hello,
We plan to process three jakes tomorrow. They are all heritage. We have to buy a hatchet, a bucket, and some ice. This is my first time and we do not have most of the supplies yet, we can’t afford a plucker or the supplies to make a scalding tank. We plan to stick their heads through a feed bag, lay them across a stump, and take their heads off with a hatchet, then pluck the feathers one to four at a time to avoid tearing the skin.
Here are the questions.

Does hanging them upside down actually make them calmer and more comfortable?
Is taking away food for a while before dispatch necessary (we don’t really have time to take it away)?
Will they throw up if they are hung upside down?
Do they need to have their plumage (they rub their tails, belly, and flight feathers in poop) and faces (they were fighting, so they have bloody heads) cleaned before processing or can that be done after?
Do you have any links to more info about processing turkeys (or similar birds, since there isn’t a huge difference besides size)?
Are there ways to put aside or ignore the emotions built for the birds from when they were poults so I don’t get tears on the meat?

Thank you

For anybody interested, this is what happened to get to this point. We have five jakes and a jenny (we are getting more jennies soon, probably this spring but maybe earlier if needed, and an off-topic question I have, is a hen under a year actually called a jenny? I have heard them referred to as jennies and seen people say that is what they are called, but I’m not completely sure) and this morning when we went out to the coop, lo and behold, four of the five jakes were fighting and Hen, the jenny, was terrified and trying to get away. We let them out and they would not stop fighting. We separated them outside and only let them inside when it was dark enough that they would roost instead of fighting because our roll of fencing is stuck under snow and ice. We have a separate building that we will put them in tomorrow when we go to town to get the processing supplies. Theodore, one of the ones we are pretty sure we are gonna process, is gonna be a tough one.

I know people who have gotten angry over the processing of animals in the past and I have to let you know, I absolutely love my animals. If keeping them all healthy means letting them go, I’m gonna let them go. We have chosen the three who were the most likely to fight, to overbreed, and to get sick. They will be missed so much and all of their body parts will be used in some way. Even the offal that is not eaten (intestines, crop, stomach) will be buried or used as fertilizer. Their feathers will be kept as remembrance and for their beauty or given away as presents. Their feet will be kept as remembrance as well.

Here are the three we are keeping (as of now). Snoodle, Mesquite, and Hen.





Here are the three we are processing (as of now). Squidward, Tumorous, and Theodore.

 

[Caterpillars]

Good for you to recognize that you need to process your birds before they kill each other. It doesn't mean it'll be easy, but you have made a good decision. Your jenny/young hen will thank you, too.

Fasting the birds makes it easier to clean their carcasses, but it's not 100% necessary either. Pheasants and wild turkeys and quail aren't fasted before being shot. You'll just have to be careful about not ripping open the crop or the guts when dressing them.

If you can't find a hatchet, or you're unsure of your ability to use it, razor blades are inexpensive and so sharp that the bird won't feel the cut. Hanging them after dispatching but while the heart is beating allows gravity to help get the blood out of the carcass.

You don't need a specific scalding pot if you have a really big stock pot already. I have helped process large wild turkeys and geese with just an 8qt stock pot of hot water - dip a limb, pluck, etc. The scalding will make it easier to pluck and will clean the feathers. Flight and tail feathers especially are difficult to pluck otherwise. You could also just skin your birds, but if you do you'll need to lard/bard them before cooking or they'll be almost inedibly dry.

Either way chill your birds and let them rest until rigor mortis has passed before freezing or cooking. If you have that much snow/ice, you can age them in a garage with ambient temperatures if fridge space is at a premium.

Good luck with your harvest.

 

[iwltfum]

I call them toms and hens if they are at the age I can sex them by sight. Never heard a young hen called a jenny. I apply the Jake and Jenny terminology to donkeys, even though male donkeys are often called Jacks so I say go with whatever feels right!

Does hanging them upside down actually make them calmer and more comfortable?
Is taking away food for a while before dispatch necessary (we don’t really have time to take it away)?
Will they throw up if they are hung upside down?
Do they need to have their plumage (they rub their tails, belly, and flight feathers in poop) and faces (they were fighting, so they have bloody heads) cleaned before processing or can that be done after?
Do you have any links to more info about processing turkeys (or similar birds, since there isn’t a huge difference besides size)?
Are there ways to put aside or ignore the emotions built for the birds from when they were poults so I don’t get tears on the meat?

I find hanging them by the feet does make them calmer and is like having an extra hand. Even medium sized turkeys can get pretty heavy. I use the carotid artery cut though. I would not hang them if you plan to use a hatchet to kill them.

Hanging them with the feet spread out a bit is a good way to position the bird to pluck it, even if you don't hang it to kill it.

Taking food away the evening before is definitely helpful.

No need to give the feathered bird a bath before you defeather it.

I don't know of any better link to teach you how to butcher a turkey other than just doing it yourself. No substitute for practice. I did watch a joel salatin butchering video about 100 times before I butchered my first chicken though so something like that can be helpful, but try to take any instruction with a grain of salt. You will figure out what works for you the more you do it.

Same goes for the emotional part of it. No substitute for practice here either. I raise and butcher about 300 birds per year (chickens and turkeys), and at this point, barely any thought goes into the emotional part of it. I praise and thank each bird internally and I make peace with it that way. I have come the understanding that this is how it works. We don't eat chicken unless we can harvest the meat from our birds - and that's enough to get through it for me. Thinking about butchering day throughout the entire life of the animal (whether it's in 8 week or 8 years) is important. I find it important to be in a headspace where you can reason with yourself that you grew this bird and spent hard earned money to feed and house it, and that giving the opportunity for that bird to give back to you in its death is the ultimate way of respecting its life.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Does hanging them upside down actually make them calmer and more comfortable?

I use the hatchet and stump method, mostly chickens but I have done a midget white turkey. I drive two large nails in one side of the stump to make a Vee maybe 3/4" wide at the bottom and 1-1/2" wide at the top. I hold the bird by the legs with the head hanging down and gently lay it on the stump. putting the neck in that Vee and gently tightening up a little. This keeps the neck steady so you can hit it. Practically every bird stays calm during the whole process once they settle down.

Is taking away food for a while before dispatch necessary (we don’t really have time to take it away)?

I do not withhold food at all. If the crop or intestines get cut i just rinse them very well. With practice you get better at this but you can have slips any time.

Will they throw up if they are hung upside down?

Mine do not.

Do they need to have their plumage (they rub their tails, belly, and flight feathers in poop) and faces (they were fighting, so they have bloody heads) cleaned before processing or can that be done after?

I see that you are wanting to save the feathers. After I take the head off they flap around. That is the nerves reacting. After they stop flopping around I rinse them off with water from the hose before I start processing them. I skin mine instead of plucking so they do not get rinsed during scalding. Instead of trying to get rid of blood or poop, my rinsing is mostly to get trash from the grass away so it doesn't get on the meat. I do try to give a decent rinse for blood and other stuff too but I don't obsess about it.

I have saved feathers from some, mainly saddle and hackle feathers from cockerels and roosters. After processing is over I wash the feathers in dawn dishwashing soap and water, then rinse well before drying. Works pretty well.

Do you have any links to more info about processing turkeys (or similar birds, since there isn’t a huge difference besides size)?

I don't but if you look at the sticky section at the very beginning of this meat bird forum you can find some good ones.

Are there ways to put aside or ignore the emotions built for the birds from when they were poults so I don’t get tears on the meat?

This is discussed a lot on here. We are all different but I don't think you can. I don't think you should totally anyway, killing should not be casual. We all have to find our own way. Some people just can't do it and that is all right too. It gets easier with practice but that doesn't men it ever gets easy. For me the worst part is the killing. After that they are just meat.

The way I look at it they have a great life and then one bad moment. I try to make that moment as brief as I can.

 

[Wild-Turkey]

An update, I did it. To two, Theodore is being very nice now that the other two are gone, no fighting has happened since. We probably will have to process him too at some point, but we’ll see if some miracle causes him to stay good, but until then, the processing supplies are set aside.

We cut off their heads with a hatchet, bled them out into a bucket, strung them by their feet, and plucked without scalding. By some miracle, we avoided tearing the skin. We cut off their wings, tails, oil glands, feet, all that good stuff, and took the guts, crop, and neck out, luckily there was no spillage of the guts or crop. We stuck them in the fridge to age for a few days. I sobbed, but we got those two done and now have delicious meat and a happier flock.

I don’t have any photos of the plucked meat but here are some (graphic) photos of some of the process.

Spoiler