An example of how well br turkeys forage (slightly graphic - pics taken during processing)

[Scottingitup]

I have 1/8 of an acre of pasture on my 3.5 acres of land. Here is a turkey crop from a tom I processed this evening. (Didn't have time to separate and with hold food like normal)
The cover crop i use if you are interested:

http://www.groworganic.com/soil-builder-mix-raw-lb.html





The turkey's bounty, lots of acorns and grass in approximately one day and best of all not a single sign of the pelleted feed in the range feeder. (Hopefully it's not just processed faster?) This was the 2nd bird I processed this evening - same results as the first.





The processing result on a 11 month old tom. About 17 lbs

 

[KrisH]

wow, looks great

RobertH

 

[jandlpoultry]

Nice looking bird. Do you have a plucker?

 

[Scottingitup]

I really want one! I pluck by hand for now. Not too bad when it's just a few.

Nice looking bird. Do you have a plucker?

 

[kuntrygirl]

WOW!!!! Look at all of that. GREAT looking bird. How long does it take you to pluck. I want a plucker so bad but I know they are expensive. When do you plan on cooking it? Let us know how it taste. Take a pic of the cooked bird and post so that we can see it as well. That's pretty good for an 11 month old.

Good job!

 

[Scottingitup]

WOW!!!! Look at all of that. GREAT looking bird. How long does it take you to pluck. I want a plucker so bad but I know they are expensive. When do you plan on cooking it? Let us know how it taste. Take a pic of the cooked bird and post so that we can see it as well. That's pretty good for an 11 month old.

Good job!

I'm having family and friends over Saturday evening and breaking out the fryer

Plucking ranges me anywhere from 15-30 minutes. I am usually closer to 15 at the start of the day and closer to 30 by the end! lol Took me about 25 mins on these birds due to it being night - come on time change!

If I had enough people close by I would purchase a plucker and rent it out.

 

[kuntrygirl]

WOW!!!! Look at all of that. GREAT looking bird. How long does it take you to pluck. I want a plucker so bad but I know they are expensive. When do you plan on cooking it? Let us know how it taste. Take a pic of the cooked bird and post so that we can see it as well. That's pretty good for an 11 month old.


Good job!

I'm having family and friends over Saturday evening and breaking out the fryer   Plucking ranges me anywhere from 15-30 minutes. I am usually closer to 15 at the start of the day and closer to 30 by the end! lol  Took me about 25 mins on these birds due to it being night - come on time change!

If I had enough people close by I would purchase a plucker and rent it out.

That's a good idea to buy a plucker and rent it out. I was just online looking at videos on how people built their chicken pluckers. The person that builds all of my chicken houses, coops, feeders, etc can build me a plucker. I sent him a few videos and BEGGED him to build me one. We'll see what happens.

 

[farmerChef]

I'm having family and friends over Saturday evening and breaking out the fryer

Plucking ranges me anywhere from 15-30 minutes. I am usually closer to 15 at the start of the day and closer to 30 by the end! lol Took me about 25 mins on these birds due to it being night - come on time change!

If I had enough people close by I would purchase a plucker and rent it out.

how do you pluck your birds, do you dry pick, or scald, or what?

 

[Scottingitup]

how do you pluck your birds, do you dry pick, or scald, or what?

I scald. Hold the bird under by the feet and wiggling it around to help the water penetrate and gently pull at the feathers on the bottom of the bird until they come free with little force. Then i do another 30 seconds just to be sure, i aim for 150 degree water temp. Dunk in ice water and go to plucking starting with the primary flight feathers (the largest).

 

[jandlpoultry]

Did you cut open the gizzard too? And if you did, what was in there? On the one we processed before Christmas, I was a little shocked at how big it was, compared to store birds.My rooster's gizzards are bigger,too. Maybe because they are older birds than store bought. My turkey's gizzard didn't have much grit in it compared to a chickens. Is this normal?