first raised turkey for t.g.

[paduanchook]

i butchered two bourbon red turkeys for thanksgiving. my first turkeys i have ever raised from poult to pot, and they were awsome! juicy, and full of flavor! so i can now say they were worth the time and aggravation.
i have one tom and 5 hens that are slates, they are getting bigger and are growing faster than my reds, so i hope to hatch alot as soon as they start laying. and i hope they will taste as good. although i hatched them all, i bwlieve the parent stock came from sand hill. anybody familiar with slates?














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[MovieFanz]

My Thanksgiving turkey was a slate tom. The parents where from Sandhill. He looked really big. But after I processed him he was just under 14 pounds at 9 months old. I was a so disappointed in the size I ended up buying a turkey at the store (for $5) just to make sure we had enough turkey. I was right. We ate every bit of turkey. I cooked both turkey the same. I brined both. We did a taste test. I didn't tell anyone which turkey they were eating. I could not tell a difference. They where both great. The only difference anyone noticed was the color of the dark meat was darker on the home grown slate turkey but the flavor and tenderness was the same. So now I am wondering if I should scale down on the turkeys and just raise chickens for meat? They are not as expensive to raise and have fewer problems.

 

[MandyH]

We raise the blue slates but we have not eaten one. They are my favorites and I just can't do it,

 

[paduanchook]

i believe its more what they eat than the breed. my red had access to alot more than commercial food, thats prob why i noticed such a difference. i havnt been much of a turkey eater until i butcherred my own. others also noticed the flavor. but turkeys are more work, if you dont havw access to other than store bought food, i wud say they are prob not worth it imo. go where your heart is