Today I did a shit-tonne of real butcher work! I learnt to use the mincing machine, I peeled and dewinged about twenty chickens, and I used a meat cleaver! It was all really exciting, except for the peeling part. I believe the correct term is "skinning" but you do literally grab the tuft of skin at the top of the chicken's neck and then peel it the entire way back, to the point where you assume you take a knife and slice the skin apart from the meat. Only you DO NOT use a knife, you must use brute force to wrench the skin from the meat, even though the skin is incredibly slippery and super, super cold and often pings back into your face when you finally rip it free. I can't see why you mustn't use a knife, but that is The Butcher Way.

 I also learnt some useful butcher etiquette: you must never use another butcher's knife, or their mug.