Thanksgiving Turkey Processing

[SunnySkies]

My local TSC did not have poults (although they got in CX and other breeds I would not have expected), but I'll ask if maybe they can get some specifically this year. I wanted them to get blue Swedish ducks last year, but they couldn't, even though that breed was on the list. I can handle 6 turkeys....Meyer's minimum heritage turkey order is 20. Eek.

As a general FYI, page 58 of the 2014 Meyer's catalog says you can't pick up heritage turkeys any longer, but you can pick up BB breeds. They average $7 each for BB, $10 for heritage at Meyer's. Shipping to me is $17.50 for 20 birds, $28.50 for 5.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I waited until TSC put the poults on sale for $6 each but they normally charge $10 a bird. They also had guineas but I don't know what they were asking for them.

I have seen the broad breasted poults at Meyer. I asked them about the heritage poults and they said that a separate farm hatches and ships them.

 

[chicken pickin]

My TSC hasn't carried any poults yet. They say they have no idea what is going to come in until it actually arrives. I guess the shipments come in weekly but in a random assortment. They kinda get what they get. Though Im sure they can special order for you eliminating shipping cost and the minimum order.

I personally wouldnt pay $10 for a BB poult. I buy mine from local feed stores for $4-5 each. Heritage varieties cost $10-12, I bought my heritage turkeys from a local farm for $10 each.

 

[SunnySkies]

Mine said the same thing....they don't know what they are getting until the TSC manager picks up the boxes from the PO. We went twice a week to see if they got blue Swedish ducks, lol. Just a variety of breeds of chicks and some ducks. Sigh.

I visited several other feed stores in my state last year, just for fun, and none of them had turkey babies. Maybe they just are not popular here?

 

[BarneyChick97]

I get mine from the local feed stores too. You have to call around. Our chicks were $11.99 last year. The cost keeps going up and up. Buy more than you want, turkeys are weaker as chicks. We always get 4, and usually have at least one die. One of our feed stores is nice enough to give us replacements if they die before the weekend (they always come in on Wed/Thurs). The turkeys that go fast are the specialty ones, not BBW's, and they must order a lot of bronze. We wanted Red Bourbons this year, and only ended up with 2, our replacements were a BBW, and a BBB. We still have the 2 BR's in the backyard, and they are toms. Not "big enough". The BBB we have left is a hen, she's acting like she's going to lay eggs here soon, and the toms were pretty aggressive with her yesterday. I kind of thought they were going to kill her, so everyone is separated. I DO think it's so neat hearing them gobble all the time in my backyard. They are better than a guard dog. Every little thing makes them do it.

To debri1966---if anything, I would at least process the BBW tom first!!! They get SOOOO big!!! Ours was about that age, and we did him in a month before Thanksgiving! Yes, you will probably have to cut him in half. We've done that in the past. Actually, probably more work. The guy we did a month+ ago, instead of cutting in half, my husband just cut him up into pieces. Leg and thighs, wings, and just cut the breast off, and cut that into 2. ONE breast weighed 9LBS!!! He was 40LBS dressed out!!!


We are pretty simple with wrapping our birds. I actually use at least 3 waste basket bags (from costco-the more clear smallest bags they sell) and then one regular trash bag over that. I always get all the air out. Never really thought about saran wrap! Next time, maybe I will use that too.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I had considered getting the shrink wrap bags, but I procrastinated ordering them and decided to butcher last minute. I thought I could saran wrap them really tight so there was no air around the skin, it turned out really well.

 

[debir1966]

Thank you! We ordered the turkey bags but will still most likely wrap them with freezer paper again as well.

We order our BB turkeys (and meat chickens and laying chickens) from Ideal Poultry http://www.idealpoultry.com/ and have been very very happy with our poults and chicks. They do not have a minimum order quantity just a dollar amount (I think it is $35.00) and their shipping is very reasonable.

When we get our Heritage turkeys, we will order them from Porters http://www.porterturkeys.com/. We missed ordering specific breeds for this coming year but are going to order an assortment and then order some specific breeds for 2015.

 

[turkey lover]

i think they look more Spaniard to me ,mixe with maybe a royal palm but could be mistaken

 

[debir1966]

Turkey bags worked great - big enough and heavier duty.

Turkeys weighed: 23#, 27#, 29# and 33#!

So glad they are in the freezer!