What do turkeys need???

[Marlinchaser]

Silly question, do you eat the heritage breeds? Seems like everyone who has them has them as pets. since they do not get as big, can I keep them around longer than the BB? So if I raise 10 do I have to have room in freezer for 10 turkeys when they are butcher size, or can I dress 1 now,1 next month etc... and still have reasonalby sized birds, I dont want a 50 pound bird.

 

[chickenannie]

Yes, you can eat the heritage breeds.
My hens and toms just stopped getting bigger at about 6 months, so I think they do reach an adult size and stop growing. It's the mutant inbreeding of the BBwhites that makes them so unhealthy and ungainly after a certain age.

As for dressing one each month, I think the issue is tenderness. Any heritage turkey before 5-6 months will be nice and tender. Any turkey after that can still be eaten but will need to be cooked longer and at a slower temp to be tender (like a stewing hen versus a roaster). you could probably do one at 4 months, one at 5 months, one at 5.5 months. The toms are bigger than the hens at adult weight.

Other may know more than I on this subject.

Last thanksgiving, heritage turkeys here were selling for $70 to $125 per bird.

 

[wilds of pa]

Hi, chickenannie is right about eating them, heritage breeds are genrally also larger than my wild eastern turkeys we raise.
we have never eaten our own birds.
However i do hunt wild turkey and have taken a few 4-5 year old toms from hunting, generally the turkeys breast meat is awesome other than the legs of the wild turkeys.
But my dogs enjoy the legs that we dont like from the wilds.

The meat turkeys tast good also, they are not very active so the meat stays very tender. Most poeple in the area here butcher there turkeys at around 6 months old here. But you can butcher them when ever they reach a size you desire..

Just as meat birds. some butcher at 4-6 weeks and like the cornish game hen size, as for us we like them around 6-8 lbs which we get that weight at around 8 weeks old..

The choice is up to you what you want...

Charlie