our turkey hatched on march 20th will she be to old to eat by thanksgiving? You know feed store employees they said she would be ready by thanksgiving but she is huge now and i do not want a tough bird. this is my first turkey so i am not sure what to do. should we just eat her now? i really wanted to raise my own thaksgiving dinner becasue the last two years we have ot been able to afford a turkey at thanksgiving i really wanted to give my family this gift and we have put so much care into her. also when weighing her how much should i take off for her innards and feathers to estimate how much she would weigh processed? thank you for your help
Sounds like you have a broad breasted type turkey, the grow out time is about 4 months give or take. A heritage type turkey takes at least 6 months to grow out. The problem with BB type turkeys is the legs can't support the weight of the bird. If it was a heritage bird it would be fine for Thanksgiving, a BB type I have no idea. I've never had one around that long. Steve
The woman at the hatchery told me to give my birds 6 months to be ready for slaughter. Mine (BBB and BBW) are were hatched at the end of April. They're getting big, but are no where near ready IMO. I really like large turkeys. The largest we ever grew when I was younger was 42 lbs dressed! We had to cut it in pieces because it wouldn't fit in the oven. That was also a BBB and he didn't have any problems walking.
A wild turkey still cooks up good even when it's old. Butcher when you're ready. 2 suggestions for a tender juicy bird. When you butcher, set it in the refridgerator for 3 days to let muscle break down & relax. When you cook it, cover it with a wet piece of cloth, like a piece of sheet, or pillow case, & baste the cloth every 1/2 hour until it's done. You will have a tender, juicy,(no....not me) turkey.
I have to agree with steve it sounds like you got a BB and should probably butcher now to avaid loosing it to excessive growth. But go ahead do it now and freeze it. One adavntage to that is you pay the processor now instead of over the holidays when money is tight. I can't help you with the live to carcass conversion weight but they might be able to on the turkey thread.
that means if i get a BB chick this week it will be ready by thanksgiving where can i get one so late?
Quote:Hit up craigslist.org ... Thats about the only way your gonna get just one poult.. If you were closer I would sell you one of the batch I have comimg..
Quote:WOW ..i thk she has her numbers a lil off.. If i had waited til 6 months on my last batch there wouldnt have been a bird alive, they would have all died from heaat attacks ... Honestly on ths BB 15-17 weeks is optimal ...
I tried to find turkey poults recently thinking "Hey great! Just enough time before Thanksgiving." I couldn't find a BB anything for sale anywhere.
