First Time Turkeys

[RidgebackRanch]

This young hen is showing signs of improvement! If she can get through the couple of days she can either go back with the rest of her flock, or we arrange something for her in the main barn with the horses. She won't be getting butchered any time soon as long as she is getting better.

 

[baymule]

YAY!!

 

[bj taylor]

great!

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Well the girls are doing well and still getting bigger. Recently I noticed that a couple of them were doing their version of "squatting". Now every few days I find an egg in the run.

It's the speckled one and is a little bigger than an extra large egg from the Easter Eggers. The shell is very tough to crack open and inside the yolk is a little on the small but they taste great.

On a side note we have found a processor fairly close that charges only $0.50 per pound to butcher turkeys. We will take two and some of the non laying hens next month to see if we want to bank on homegrown turkey for Thanksgiving.

 

[baymule]

That turkey egg is pretty! Homegrown turkey for Thanksgiving? Sounds like a plan.

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Well we took the two largest turkey hens, 3 5 month old rooster and 4-4 year hens to be processed today. It only took a couple of hours and everybody is packaged and in the freezer.

One of the turkeys is in the fridge for Tuesday and the other we cut into pieces and vacuum packed them. I was very pleased with the amount of meat we got from them and can't wait to taste them

The carcass of the turkey is simmering down for turkey pot pie tonight, and lots of stock for the freezer.

It cost $0.50 a pound for the turkeys at 27 and 29 pounds and the chickens were $3.00 each, a good deal in my opinion.

 

[Jared77]

That's a heck of a price!!!

 

[bobm]

Well we took the two largest turkey hens, 3 5 month old rooster and 4-4 year hens to be processed today. It only took a couple of hours and everybody is packaged and in the freezer.

One of the turkeys is in the fridge for Tuesday and the other we cut into pieces and vacuum packed them. I was very pleased with the amount of meat we got from them and can't wait to taste them33

The carcass of the turkey is simmering down for turkey pot pie tonight, and lots of stock for the freezer.

It cost $0.50 a pound for the turkeys at 27 and 29 pounds and the chickens were $3.00 each, a good deal in my opinion.

Let's see ... 27 lbs. x 0.50 = $13.50 to process that turkey . This past weekend, the local grocery store was selling their turkeys at $0.79 / lb.. So 27 lbs. x $0.79 = $21.33 . $ 21.33 - $13.50 = $7.83 cost to buy, raise, and include freight and profit to the store to market the bird. What was the actual cost to raise your bird ?

 

[canesisters]

feed = $/lb
shelter = $/sq foot
time = $/hr
entertainment = priceless!!

 

[RidgebackRanch]

We figured our cost at about $7.00-$8.00 per pound so no it's not economically sound. But the entertainment value and knowing how the bird was raised and what it ate makes it worth it to me.

Having home raised fowl to cook is a real treat for us as we love to cook and now we have a lot of meat to work with. I will say it was amazing how dark red the legs and thighs are and how clean the meat looks. The fat has a very smooth melt in your mouth texture that you can't find from a commercial bird and the stock made from leftovers from butchering is divine.

This is a lot like raising chickens for eggs, not profitable but a very worthy task if you are up for it. For us raising fowl and gardening are things we just love to do and making use of what is produced gives a certain amount of pride. More love goes into preparing these items than would happen if they were store bought because of the personal and financial investment.