Thanksgiving Turkey Processing

[JAFig]

Have you had any interested in someone buying your BR toms live? Do they fly, or do you need to keep them in a covered pasture? I hope to get some breeders next spring, but think I need to get the pasture covered first and find a mobile processor.

I'll be curious to hear how you enjoy your BR, in particular the condition of the breast meat.

I've raised several BB white and bronze turkeys, and processed myself. Let them rest in the fridge for 3 days before cooking to give rigor a chance to relax. Otherwise you'll have great tasting, but stiff, meat. I ALWAYS brine my birds now. The result is incomparable!

To the person with the 29 lb. tom-was he "blubbery"? My experience with the BBs is that they get soft, blubbery breasts when they exceed about 23 lbs, which is one reason why I want to switch to non-BB varieties.

 

[ScottnLydia]

Have you had any interested in someone buying your BR toms live? Do they fly, or do you need to keep them in a covered pasture? I hope to get some breeders next spring, but think I need to get the pasture covered first and find a mobile processor.

I'll be curious to hear how you enjoy your BR, in particular the condition of the breast meat.

I've raised several BB white and bronze turkeys, and processed myself. Let them rest in the fridge for 3 days before cooking to give rigor a chance to relax. Otherwise you'll have great tasting, but stiff, meat. I ALWAYS brine my birds now. The result is incomparable!

To the person with the 29 lb. tom-was he "blubbery"? My experience with the BBs is that they get soft, blubbery breasts when they exceed about 23 lbs, which is one reason why I want to switch to non-BB varieties.

Curious as to what you mean by "blubbery"? Do you mean excessive fat? I processed a Midget White tom that was almost a year and a half that had huge fat deposits on the front of his breast, 1 1/2 inches thick! That might be a product of age + feed, he was eating the high protein feed for the poults at the time.

I've also done BB Bronze turkeys that were in the 35 pound range that had a beautiful 1/4 inch fat cap over the whole breast. It basted the bird as it cooked and was great! He was more of a free ranger with some four-way grain.

Don't know if that helps.

~S

 

[Darin115]

My turkeys were a day old on June 22nd. I could definately tell it was time because they could hardly get around the week or so prior to having them processed. However one would still fly up to the roost pole. The other one never did roost. It just laid on the floor in the corner of the coop.

Darin

 

[Celie]

Our snow turkeys!

They were not sure of that white stuff on the ground at first and hesitated in the doorway for quite a while before one of them finally got brave enough to step in it LOL.





My son gives the turkeys treats alot, so they are always looking for a goodie from him.


The biggest of the turkeys.


Wasn't sure if I should let them out or not, but the wild turkeys didn't seem to mind so I decided to see if they would come out in it.

I am still hoping the biggest one will be big enough to process in 3-4 weeks - we would like him to be at least 15 pounds after processing! I wish I had a scale so we could weigh them as I have no idea how much they weigh right now.

I bought a postal scale on ebay that goes up to 86 pounds, digital, with shipping for around $15. They have more if you hurry. They run off ac adapter or 3 AAA batteries, included, so they are portable. I put a pan on the scale. turn it on to get a tear weight and then weigh the birds or rabbits.

 

[Celie]

Hi, my birds were Midget Whites and were right at 7 1/2 months. Unfortunately, we didn't know that we had BBW when we got them, we were told that they were White Hollands, so we kept them for breeders. At about 8 month old, severe health problems took their toll. The hen prolapsed and died. It was then that we realized that they were BBW, she weighed about 35 pounds or more! The tom, who had seemed to be stuck in a permanent strutting position, obviously had leg problems, and the others had picked on him so severely that we decided to put him down. Although he didn't look like it, he weighed in at 48 pounds!

Obviously, had we known that they were BBW, we would have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner when they would have been about 4 1/2 to 5 months old. We were never able to find the fellow that sold them to us as Holland Whites, but as the old saying goes, "Buyer, beware!" I do think I'll stick to turkeys that I can identify by color from now on, too many white birds!

~S

If you try BB turkeys again, keep in mind that they can have all kinds of trouble is they are allowed to eat as they please 24/7. If you keep their weight under control by feeding them twice a day all they care to eat and let them free range for exercise, they can be harvested at as much as a year old or older. I raised some and before we could harvest them all, a year had gone by and the last few were over 80 pounds. The scale pegged out @ 80 pounds! We had to quarter them to cook them. One of them I deboned and ground up for burgers and sausage and the breast meat alone weighed 35 #. We got 15 from the hatchery, not knowing they needed to be AI. Only 2 had any leg problems, so we harvested them first at around 5 months. Before we harvested the female she mated with the smallest breasted male and laid about a dozen eggs, 8 of which were fertile. After that I put a Holland White Heritage tom over her and hatched out a couple dozen more eggs. Now we only raise Holland Whites, because White Turkeys are easier to dress out, having no dark pin feathers, and since they get to be about 49-50# its more bang for my buck, so to speak. I do sell hatching eggs, but I do not know how to go about shipping live poults.Sorry you were scammed by a dishonest breeder. We are not all like that.

 

[Celie]

Curious as to what you mean by "blubbery"? Do you mean excessive fat? I processed a Midget White tom that was almost a year and a half that had huge fat deposits on the front of his breast, 1 1/2 inches thick! That might be a product of age + feed, he was eating the high protein feed for the poults at the time.

I've also done BB Bronze turkeys that were in the 35 pound range that had a beautiful 1/4 inch fat cap over the whole breast. It basted the bird as it cooked and was great! He was more of a free ranger with some four-way grain.

Don't know if that helps.

~S

I agree, but I think it could be the fat content in their feed, because carbs and fat make fat on meat, protein should build muscle. You do not want too much of either of these for a BB turkey or chicken. Let them forage in the morning to encourage them to get their bugs and exercise. Then feed them a 18 to 20% protein, low fat feed and again about an hour before dark, so they have a full belly to go to sleep. I no longer raise the BB type. I currently have 33 Holland White Heritage. Two for thanksgiving, around 40 to 50 #(haven't weighed them yet) and about a dozen extras will go to freezer camp in a couple more months.

 

[4740]

Hello everyone, I have enjoyed reading this post and seeing the pics. It has made me a little sad because I bought my first turkdy this year and was going to eat her. However she has lumps on the sides of her face, one larger than the other, so I think we can't eat her.

 

[ScottnLydia]

Hello everyone, I have enjoyed reading this post and seeing the pics. It has made me a little sad because I bought my first turkdy this year and was going to eat her. However she has lumps on the sides of her face, one larger than the other, so I think we can't eat her.

The lumps, per se, probably wouldn't have any effect on her eating quality, depending. If they have appeared recently and she is acting ill, then they could be an infection, and she probably wouldn't be of top quality. Palpate (feel) the lumps to see if they are hard or soft. Soft (like full of liquid) could indicate infection, but if she is acting, eating O.K. then it could be localized in the sinuses. It could also just be a problem with sinus drainage, like I have! So long as she isn't 'hunched up', acting sick, shivering or the like, she probably doesn't have a fever and the meat quality wouldn't be effected.

Hard lumps there wouldn't effect the meat quality at all.

~S

 

[milleryardchx]

Im helping a friend process 5 turkeys on Thursday she raised since March. And then Dec 1st she is coming over to help me process 18 chickens. So I get a free thanksgiving turkey for a few chickens I will keep you posted on processing and taste.

 

[ScottnLydia]

Im helping a friend process 5 turkeys on Thursday she raised since March. And then Dec 1st she is coming over to help me process 18 chickens. So I get a free thanksgiving turkey for a few chickens I will keep you posted on processing and taste.

I see you've got some Delawares destined for the freezer! We just did some and we fried one up last night. THE BEST CHICKEN I'VE EVER HAD!!! SO much flavor, I just can't believe it! They seem slim in the breast compared to Cornish Xs, but that breast meat is moist and flavorful! For fryers, I process mine at about 14 to 15 weeks, so that they are still quite tender. They average about 3 very tastey pounds for the boys.

If you're doing 5 turks in a day, you're going to be tired! The most I've done is 3, but then, I'm a wimp!

Have fun!

~S

P.S. Everyone has a different opinion on chickens. Some really like Cornish Xs because they get a 5 pound bird in 7 or 8 weeks with a monstrous breast. Some like dual purpose birds that grow slower and develop more flavor, but require more feed and are smaller. I base my preference on memories (from the stone age) of fried chicken that my Gran used to make me. She got the small, 2 1/2 to 3 pound, narrow breasted birds of intense flavor that the industry sold before they developed the Cornish X, probably a Delaware or Delaware cross. Eating these takes me back to my Grans kitchen!