It's official, we aren't eating them, they have names.

[retlaw]

That's funny and true.
When I first got my first batch there was this hen that came running every time I showed up to the yard.
She tried every thing to be my best buddy.
Her colouring was not right for my breeding program.
She was the first to meet the axe because she was the first one that came to me.
The same thing would have happened to her it the wild.

Think of it this way.
The more of the birds you eat the more of them you have around.
If you do not eat them, then they would not be there.

Heritage animals need to be eaten in order to insure they always will be here for us.

Our family eats at least one turkey a month.
I prefer them to chickens because one animal can feed so many people or be a few separate suppers.

That makes it so I don't have to harvest so many animals.
And insures I always have birds around.
Also insures a freezer full of delicious heritage turkey.

Its all in our heads not the birds.

 

[mprivett]

We got our Bourbon Red turkeys for meat too and are planning to process at least one or two but now it is going to be SO HARD!!!!! We haven't named them or anything, but they are incredible attached to us and always want to be right near us, follow us like puppies and "talk" to and cry for us, and are extremely friendly which I found very surprising. Anytime we get out of their sight and then they see us again they start "barking" and chattering and come running at full speed to wherever we are.

Our chickens could care less about us except when we have treats for them, so I thought the turkeys would be the same way. Boy, was I wrong!

 

[topher166]

my kids named my turkeys when they were day olds.. they know we are eating them so they named them "Christmas" "Thanksgiving" "Easter" and "Freezer"

 

[tepchickens]

Yeah. It is hard to eat something that runs to you every time it sees you and thinks your its mama. Good Luck!!

 

[RedIII]

We got our Bourbon Red turkeys for meat too and are planning to process at least one or two but now it is going to be SO HARD!!!!! We haven't named them or anything, but they are incredible attached to us and always want to be right near us, follow us like puppies and "talk" to and cry for us, and are extremely friendly which I found very surprising. Anytime we get out of their sight and then they see us again they start "barking" and chattering and come running at full speed to wherever we are.

Our chickens could care less about us except when we have treats for them, so I thought the turkeys would be the same way. Boy, was I wrong!

Sounds like the pair I raised last year. I absolutely fell in love with them. It was hard to process the hen when it came time, but my goodness, was she delicious! I made peace with the whole thing by reasoning that I gave my birds a way better life than they ever would have had on a factory farm, and by using up as much of them as I could, it was way more respectful than letting them go to waste.

Still have to process the tom, though. He's way overdue for the freezer. I've got two more poults this year that my pet turkey hen is raising, and I've been very careful NOT to name them. I have a really hard time caring for an animal and not caring about it, too.