Yesterday was the big day for choosing our Thanksgiving turkey.
AussieSharon came over. We had a quick brunch of a mexican style breakfast casserole. Later we had hot coffee and my chocolate sour dough (the same on some of you got in the mail last week).
Then it was time for turkey.
These are Bronze Turkeys.
They are 27 weeks old.
They are very sweet and easy going.
I have raised 18 of them. No leg problems. No illness. All of them are fat and healthy and active. The females can fly.
Sharon and Heather came out to choose a turkey and to help pluck some ducks and some cockerals.
Sharon chose a 'small' hen.
Heather chose one of the smaller toms.
They were too big for my scale. Even after they were dressed. They top the scales at 40+ lbs. Ooops!
Heather's dressed turkey is laying on a 50lb feed bag.
Just so you get an idea of what 'size' these are.
My turkey is now resting in a brine of 1lb of salt and 1lb of raw sugar dissolved in water. The ice chest was then filled with a icey watery slush. I added the turkey and after the giblets were cleaned he was topped off with more ice. He will brine in his icey bath until time to cook.
This is a 60 quart igloo cube ice chest on wheels. As you can see he filled it up. Sharon and Heathers birds wouldn't fit in their ice chest. They bagged theirs in a 5 gallon ziplock bag with ice.
I calculated these turkeys to reach their proper 28 week harvest date to coincide with this week.
They are free ranged with a closed locked barn at night. They eat nearly 25 lbs of feed each day. Over the last 3 weeks their diet was heavily supplimented with cracked corn.
They each had a gorgeous thick pad of fat in the cavity opening. Their organs where just gorgeous. The gizzard was wrapped in fat. The livers were firm and large. They are beautiful and healthy birds,
If you have a chance to raise your own turkey I highly recommend that you do so. You will not regret the effort you put into these birds.
Thanks Sharon and Heather. We had a great day. The kids were pleasantly tired and so were we. LOL
Oh, one more thing.
The biggest of the tom turkeys are still walking around enjoying the farm.
AussieSharon came over. We had a quick brunch of a mexican style breakfast casserole. Later we had hot coffee and my chocolate sour dough (the same on some of you got in the mail last week).
Then it was time for turkey.
These are Bronze Turkeys.
They are 27 weeks old.
They are very sweet and easy going.
I have raised 18 of them. No leg problems. No illness. All of them are fat and healthy and active. The females can fly.
Sharon and Heather came out to choose a turkey and to help pluck some ducks and some cockerals.
Sharon chose a 'small' hen.
Heather chose one of the smaller toms.
They were too big for my scale. Even after they were dressed. They top the scales at 40+ lbs. Ooops!
Heather's dressed turkey is laying on a 50lb feed bag.
Just so you get an idea of what 'size' these are.
My turkey is now resting in a brine of 1lb of salt and 1lb of raw sugar dissolved in water. The ice chest was then filled with a icey watery slush. I added the turkey and after the giblets were cleaned he was topped off with more ice. He will brine in his icey bath until time to cook.
This is a 60 quart igloo cube ice chest on wheels. As you can see he filled it up. Sharon and Heathers birds wouldn't fit in their ice chest. They bagged theirs in a 5 gallon ziplock bag with ice.
I calculated these turkeys to reach their proper 28 week harvest date to coincide with this week.
They are free ranged with a closed locked barn at night. They eat nearly 25 lbs of feed each day. Over the last 3 weeks their diet was heavily supplimented with cracked corn.
They each had a gorgeous thick pad of fat in the cavity opening. Their organs where just gorgeous. The gizzard was wrapped in fat. The livers were firm and large. They are beautiful and healthy birds,
If you have a chance to raise your own turkey I highly recommend that you do so. You will not regret the effort you put into these birds.
Thanks Sharon and Heather. We had a great day. The kids were pleasantly tired and so were we. LOL
Oh, one more thing.
The biggest of the tom turkeys are still walking around enjoying the farm.
