Did in my first turkey...

[walkswithdog]

Okay... not as bad as I thought.

Alone so I trussed George and wrapped his wings in and hung him up. Cut his throat and then let him bleed out. That's not too bad, probably could have let him bleed a bit longer

And yeah, better tools would be easier but not so bad. Didn't have a big enough scalding pot, used a VERY large roasting pan on the stove and flipped the bird. Worked any way.

Didn't use soap but the feathers came out easy anyway.

After that it was much like doing a big chicken. He only came in at 19 lbs so it would have been much worse with the giant meat birds. Then you really would need a trash can or something huge to scald in. Not going to let any bird get that big for two people.

He's resting in the fridge and for the most part, looks like a store turkey. Now he was a BR, but I find that makes it easier to catch the feather bits you might miss otherwise. All in all, not so bad. And I'm looking forward to the dinner he'll make tomorrow.

 

[faykokoWV]

your thread title reminded me of an old joke

whats the difference between kinky and perverted

Kinky is using a feather, perverted is using the whole bird!


Have a Great Meal tomorrow!!!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Congrats. Wish I could suck it up and do mine in....

 

[chickabator]

I wish I had somewhere to grow them at I am at my limit on chickens on space I need to down size but cant find anyone to buy my chickens

 

[spook]

Good job on your first Turkey! I bet its going to be so juicey and tastey, well worth your effort!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Good for you!!!!!!!!! I hate processing any birds but turkeys are the worst - I guess I like them the best.

You said in your post it's just the two of you? We have the same thing here. That's why we skin and cut up alot of ours so we have turkey probably one day a week.

Steve in NC

 

[walkswithdog]

Turkeys are harder to do Steve. I do like them best of all.

I have to be kind of firm with myself to get it done. "Darn it woman - you started this for food not a large FLOCK of pets you silly nit." Then I can manage to get it done.

I think I will skin and cut up future birds but I wanted to do the whole one first to really get a handle on how it was different and the same. We could totally to a half or 1/4 bird for a meal for the two of us and cut up turkey takes up less space.

I sold the Calicos today - I DID NOT LIKE the temperament of the entire group. I won't get eggs from that breeder again. Talk about insanely flighty.

Once I thin the BR flock down I'll consider trying another breed in Fall or Spring.

I so love the hand raised BRs. Laura calls them Turpeys, turkey puppies. And they really are momma's babies. And no one can ask for more than freedom, being well fed, happy, loved and a swift clean death.

 

[walkswithdog]

Quote:
OMG okay you owe me a clean keyboard... Coffee and keyboards don't go together when there's something like that in here.... bwahahaha.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Skinning and cutting them up works great for us in the summer. Boneless skinless breast fillets on the grill, we cook the leg 1/4's down and use the meat for turkey taco's or enchiladas.

I'm making myself hungry!!!!!!

Steve

 

[walkswithdog]

Steve OMG that was the best tasting turkey in the whole whole world ever.

Okay so now I have a question...

How big do the Standard Bronze get in 4 - 5 months? I think I may have to just raise a few around the year to keep me happy. Store bought turkey is now a much paler and sadder thing. And is far less likely to happen.

The BRs are kinda small for 4-5 months to be good sized...

And thank you for all your help getting the flock going. I really appreciate it. Hatched the way you said to and got 90% on my normal hatches. And did a strong 60% on the disaster hatch. I'm delighted. And I will always have turkeys now.

Building them a much bigger pen/coop this week and giving them their own 200 x 100 fenced bit of woods and pasture.