Everyone should raise their own turkey next year!!!

[RAREROO]

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Thanks !! That looks delicious. Now where's me a guinea ?. I would be able to find any french ones around here, just the regular pearls and such but they would work good enough to try.

the meat is much more purple than a chickens (when raw), but when cooked it is more like a chicken (NOT cornish X) or a pheasant. the meat is kinda in between the two i would say. not gamey at all.. but like a "wild" chicken or something.. AWESOME!

if i knew how to post pictures i would post the roasted bird from yesterday, but.... i don't

here's a link to a pic of a roasted guinea. you can even see the purple feet they left on (only cutting off the "toes")
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/roast-guinea-fowl-with-truffles-and-tagliatelle

if you type in whole roasted guinea fowl into google images you will get lots of delicious looking pics

edited to add link

Thanks for the link, here is how to post pics https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=504 I'm gonna try one if I can find one.

Edited to put in the right link

 

[un-named]

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[twister]

The info you posted is intriquing! I toyed w. the idea of raising one turkey and then talked myself out of it. We just got into the CX's and that went so very well that maybe next yr we will look into this venture a little more closely.
maybe you can clear up a few points that "talked me out of it" this year:

I read somewhere that turks are harder to pluck ( hand pluck) than chicken---something about the scald does not work as well on their type of feathers as it does w. CX.

can they sustain themselves against predators a little more easily than chicken or are they just as defenseless as chicken?

security? do they have to be cooped up like fort knox as my hens are?

age to butcher for a small turkey , like your 12 lber?

TY!!!

 

[sonew123]

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[twister]

TY Sonew... your advise is always SPOT ON and ACCURATE!!!! I suppose I will have a few mo to decide on the big boy ( or girl!) ;-)

Off to sit, read, and feed in my new coop! Hubby made a nice little separated reading area in there for me so I can be w. my birdies! LOL... I will have to post pics soon!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Now you know why we always say.

"Everybody loves a turkey"

Steve

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

This was our first Thanksgiving bird we raised ourselves, he was a 6 month old Midget White and weighed out at 10.5 lbs. He could have been bigger but he free ranged a lot and was is good shape not fattened up as he could have been. I spatchcocked then brined him and he cooked in under 2 hours. Seriously the best moist white meat I have ever tasted.

 

[eKo_birdies]

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that looks awesome!

 

[ColbyNTX]

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I don't think they are any harder than a chicken, just bigger. I use an 80qt crawfish pot at 140degs and dunk the turkey for about 60 seconds and check to see if the long flight feathers pull out. If they do, it is ready to pluck!

My 13 year old daughter skipped dessert to have more of the standard bronze she helped process. If you have never had a heritage turkey, get some this spring and rais them 8 or 10 months and eat one. You will never buy one at the store again! We have a celeberity in the family who has his own private chef that lives in his home and he thought it was the best turkey he had ever eaten.

 

[abhaya]

I am planning on turks this spring. I am loking or someplace to butcher them as I dont really have a good place to do it or a pot big enough to scald a turkey. Antone know anyplace in northeast tn?