Is it too late for me to get a couple turkey poults?

[itsy]

If we plan on eating them for Thanksgiving... is it too late?

If not: What type of turkey do I look for?

Anyone ever make a turkey tractor?????

 

[Denninmi]

No, not if you go with broadbreasted, either white or bronze. They grow faster than heritage breeds. They won't be whopping record breakers, but should be able to get something big enough to dress out decent. I would try to find some ASAP, though, and with any luck maybe you could find some that are already a few weeks old, not just newly hatched - you never know, try looking on craigslist - there are a couple of small mom and pop type operations within an hour or so of me that keep advertising poults up to 4 weeks old, so it might happen.

 

[itsy]

My local go-to farmer has "royal palms." Are they good eats?

 

[PotterWatch]

Royal Palms won't be big enough by Thanksgiving unless they are already a couple months old. According to Porter's, the average adult live weight for RPs is: toms - 22 pounds, hens - 12 pounds.

 

[itsy]

Thanks for the help! Yeah, RP's not worth it. I'll have to check out another farmer nearby. I think he has the bronzes and whites....but they "don't like to sell to you" if they know you're going to eat the bird.

How you can be a chicken farmer and say that is beyond me....

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Plenty of time for Broad Breasted varieties. I get three batches in. One next week on the 7th, then Aug 4th, then the first week in Sept. Weights will range 20-26 pounds for batch one, 14-19 pounds batch two and the last ones are the 8-12 pounders.


Go with the whites, they are amazing foragers and the meat can not be beat. Ours will usually roam 5-8 acres with no problem.