Turkeys For 2013

[Sally8]

Arielle:

Do you PLUCK feathers or skin them, generally?

x 2 ?

 

[Arielle]

Arielle: So you're saying around 7 months is a good time for processing? Male & Female? Are Tom's too old if they are around a yr & 1/2?

Do you PLUCK feathers or skin them, generally?

I pluck by hand-- large canning kettle of boiling water. This temp is too hot for a mechanical plucker and will tear the skin. I love the skin to eat and it also protects the meat from drying out too much during the roasting in the oven.

THe age and size to process is very personal. THe hens will be smaller than the males. I would not waste a good 1 1/2 year old bird-- slow roast or sausage or ground. I don't waste anything. I learn a way to utilize it.

A bird is never too old to eat. IT is about how long you chill the carcass in the frig and cooking method ( temp and time= different than the BBW we tradtionally roast for THanksgiving.I find a slow oven for a longer time is better; and finish with high heat to put on the nice carmel color and flavor)

My suggestion is try it and adjust your methods. THis is a jump in with two feet exercise. lol

 

[MumsyII]

Thank you Mumsy! Your smoker recipe for duck makes is sound so good! Now I will have to try some!!! Where do you find cherry wood or chips? I have oak everywhere!

I just purchased two small bags today at the hardware store in the BBQ section. One of cherry and one of apple. I have saved prunnings from the orchard but using home prunnings means debarking the branches. I don't have time for that anymore so I purchase the chips already debarked and cured. Soak them in a little bucket of apple juice or water over night before I stoke the smoker up.


Leg of lamb in the smoker.


Smoked turkey.

 

[chickadoodles]

I just purchased two small bags today at the hardware store in the BBQ section. One of cherry and one of apple. I have saved prunnings from the orchard but using home prunnings means debarking the branches. I don't have time for that anymore so I purchase the chips already debarked and cured. Soak them in a little bucket of apple juice or water over night before I stoke the smoker up.

Thank you so much Mumsy! I will get my DH to help me make some of your Apple smoked duck! It does sound good!
Thanks for letting me know where to get the cherry and apple chips!
I may have to get a duck!

 

[chicken pickin]

Tonight I just integrated 2 separate juvenile turkey flocks. There is some fighting going on and I am nervous. I also have one Poult that is still really tiny, she is part of one of the flocks. I wonder if I should take her out and put her with some of my young chicks. How long should I expect to see some fighting going on? This turkey pen is being raised for thanksgiving minus the 2 tiny ones who I will over winter.

 

[desertmarcy]

I pluck by hand-- large canning kettle of boiling water. This temp is too hot for a mechanical plucker and will tear the skin. I love the skin to eat and it also protects the meat from drying out too much during the roasting in the oven.

THe age and size to process is very personal. THe hens will be smaller than the males. I would not waste a good 1 1/2 year old bird-- slow roast or sausage or ground. I don't waste anything. I learn a way to utilize it.

A bird is never too old to eat. IT is about how long you chill the carcass in the frig and cooking method ( temp and time= different than the BBW we tradtionally roast for THanksgiving.I find a slow oven for a longer time is better; and finish with high heat to put on the nice carmel color and flavor)

My suggestion is try it and adjust your methods. THis is a jump in with two feet exercise. lol

I have a plucker and it works fine for heritage turkeys. I dunk them in 150 degree water, no hotter. If the water is too hot, yes the skin tears. I will be processing and selling holiday turkeys.
6 months old is minimum age. I sold too many poults that hatched earliest and the oldest ones I am raising for holidays hatched mid-May. Next year I will keep the first hatches for processing instead of selling them so they are bigger by Thanksgiving. A lot of my customers want small birds, though, so it works out.

I agree the older birds just need a different cooking method. 1-1/2 years is not old for a heritage turkey.

 

[desertmarcy]

I finally found a pet home for my 5-year old Royal Palm tom. That freed up a pen, so yesterday I separated the growing toms and hens. They are almost 3 months old. I ended up with 22 hens and 21 toms. Except some younger ones, those are not old enough for me to be sure yet and they are in a separate pen from the 3-month old ones. The sex ratios were pretty even except of the Slates I kept, 6 hens and only 1 tom. It took me hours to do all that. After catching them, I banded each bird with a numbered band, wrote down on a notepad breed, sex, and band number and any comments, like bent toe. It was almost dark when I was done. This morning all the hens look quite calm, even though some were so wild when I was trying to catch them. I think they like not having all those toms around

I expect each pen to be more peaceful now. And it will be much easier for me to look at them all and decide which are keepers. I have one more open pen and it is big enough to divide into two pens. Just need some more hardware to make a gate and set a pole in concrete. Already have a section of chain link for it.

Arielle, do you keep extra toms year around in a separate pen away from the hens? I am trying to decide if I can afford to keep some spare toms of the breeds I got from Porter that are harder to find, like the Lilac. It is always worrisome to me to have only one tom of a breed because if something happens, you are s**t out of luck. But keeping two toms in a breeding pen, especially the size pens that I have, does not work.

 

[Arielle]

Recently my toms have been jumping the fence and visiting around the farm and generally creating havoc. So I often have to carry a boy back to his pen as it is much faster than herding.

Means several trips if only 3, if 12 I herd, ANyway, it give me a chace to feel them over. THe breast area still stumps me, Itis all puffed up like full of air, yet when I process no baloon. . WHat gives with that??? How am I supposed to feel for the breast meat and access who is staying as breeding stock if all I feel is a padded bra? ANd the legs feel scrawny. Too much walking??

 

[casportpony]

Sure wish I could find someone looking to re-home a tom.

-Kathy

 

[chickadoodles]

I just purchased two small bags today at the hardware store in the BBQ section. One of cherry and one of apple. I have saved prunnings from the orchard but using home prunnings means debarking the branches. I don't have time for that anymore so I purchase the chips already debarked and cured. Soak them in a little bucket of apple juice or water over night before I stoke the smoker up.


Leg of lamb in the smoker.


Smoked turkey.

I love the pic's! What kind of smoker is that Mumsy? It looks like an old apartment oven or something... I just ate but after your pics I could go eat some Turkey or leg of lamb!