Thanksgiving Turkey Processing

[chicken pickin]

It would be best to keep her in the refrigerator for at least 3 days before eating so it passes the rigor phase.

To get the pin feathers that are left behind I use a pinning knife(a butter knife works the same) and use it to scrap the skin in the direction the feathers grow not against them.

Enjoy the fresh home raised turkey, Its tastes best because you know you did it all your self

 

[katsdar]

Thanks for the advice, I pulled her out of freezer camp she was not frozen yet and will put her back in on tuesday!! How far do you cut for the oil gland? I threw away the gizzard because I didn't know how to clean it, how do you?

 

[katsdar]

Well she went to freezer camp yesterday her official weight was 25 pounds, she put it on slow and was pasture raised, a tiny bit of fat was starting to be put on. So I am looking forward to tasting her, I have never eaten a fresh home grown bird before.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

Thanks for the advice, I pulled her out of freezer camp she was not frozen yet and will put her back in on tuesday!! How far do you cut for the oil gland? I threw away the gizzard because I didn't know how to clean it, how do you?

I just cut the whole tail off. My husband loves the gizzards, its super easy to clean them. It would be hard to explain without a diagram, here is a link to a thread that shows cleaning of chicken gizzards.

Just a warning, the pictures are graphic.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-eviscerating-cutting-up-your-chicken-graphic

 

[katsdar]

Thanks for the link, I cut the tail off and I too love gizzards it was hard to throw that away.

I still have one turkey to process but my first one dressed out at 25 pounds, she was a BBB
will diffidently do this again next year. I hope she tastes good, as this will be my first experience with a home grown bird.

 

[katsdar]

Ok, my bird is marked for the family and friends get together is there any reason my bird will taste bad? I'm so scared that she will, my husband keeps telling me no to worry, but this is my first fresh bird and my first fresh home grown. My DH says that if it tastes bad then we will blame the cook, nope not me not this year.

. I cleaned her, kept her chilled until going into the fridge, cut off the tail so the gland won't spoil the meat, she was in the fridge 3 days before going to freezer camp. I did break the intestine but I cleaned the cavity so well I don't feel she was contaminated. So are my worries for naught.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

Its my first year for homegrown turkey too, I'm sure they are going to be delicious. Just think of how rewarding its going to be, "Yup, I raised that bird myself!"

 

[cstronks]

All this turkey talk is exciting! I think it is great that everybody is raising their own meals...really makes a connection back to the first Thanksgiving. You know the pilgrims and native americans didn't walk into the supermarket and buy this stuff. With that said, I have read a good amount of these posts and it seems that most people only bought a couple of turkeys here in order to process them for Thanksgiving. However, for people who plan on raising a flock of turkeys, it is very important to consider genetics! If you are raising heritage turkeys, it may be very tempting to take your largest tom or hen and process them, BUT...thinking ahead to future generations, that is not a very good move. You want to cull your smaller and medium size birds, and leave the big ones for breeding. This way you will have a healthy selection of large birds in 3 or 4 years. Also, you can pair large birds and make a pretty penny selling them off.

Congrats to everybody who raised their own turkeys! It is awesome and I can't wait to do it myself when I have more property! Have a safe and happy holiday, God Bless.

 

[katsdar]

Happy Thanksgiving to you all too, God Bless your families

 

[Chad Cool]

How long do you feed out a turkey before you kill?