Turkeys V Chickens

[Crippledturkey]

I have added broilers to the freezer before, however have not added any turkeys in their either and am about to so tomorrow. My concern is that I know how powerful the reflexes of a chicken is after they are dispatched, and one of the toms is over 30 pounds and being dispatched because I have personal information on how strong they can be alive with thier kicking, thus him being added to the freezer. How much harder are they to add to a freezer than a chicken? I do not have any cones my opperation is old school, tripods with a canner over an open fire for scalding. Thank you.

 

[Ema]

I am going through the same fears...my turkeys are due to be processed soon and I have been told aswell how strong they are...my method also old school. Neighbour told me to keep a few feed sacks, put a hole for the turkeys neck on the closed end and then stick him or her through there . the sack, he said will keep him from being able to move too much, and kicking me. I have no clue about this, but I can see it working specially if someone is holding the end closed or if the end is tied. Dunno...

come back tomorrow and let us know how processing went.

Ema

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

Get someone to help you zip tie thier legs together.

 

[Crippledturkey]

We did zip tie his feet together, and hung him on a game scale in the trees to ansaguinate. The feed bag idea would have been so helpful yesterday if I had gotten it in time, and will surely do that the next time. It was surprisingly not as difficult as I thought it would be. The bird weighed 45 pounds on the game scale and dressed a little over 35 pounds. It was a breeze to pluck compared to a chicken. When we go to the other tom and the hens I will definately use the feedbag idea, thanks again for tha hints Ema and Two Creeks. PS Need a larger canner for the scalding lol.