Thanksgiving on the Hoof

Today Andrea helped me load up 6 of the turkeys we raised at the buttcrack of dawn. I took them over to Cobb Creek Farms for processing, and I just can't say enough good things about Grady and his team. If you're anywhere nearby they're worth your hard earned money.

We learned a lot from this turkeys. First, with new poults, we put them with two to to three week old chickens. The chickens (who were both hens) taught the turkeys how to eat and drink, this really is invaluable in getting them to live.

We learned that turkeys really are as dumb as their reputation, but in spite of this they're pretty bullet proof by the time they can fly. We learned that they do really well in our area free ranging. We had a goose that imprinted on them and really kept them in line.

We learned that you should never, ever, under any circumstances or for any reason stand under a roosting turkey. Ask. Me. How. I. Know. They poop an unbeliveable amount.

We learned they are very capable and competent foragers, though the older they get the further they roam from the roost.

We learned if you don't keep the wings clipped they are very competent aviators, though they do not seem to know the difference between automobiles and trees.

We learned to not park cars near they roost. They thought our SUV was a portable jungle gym.

We learned that turkeys, after falling into a pig pen in the dark, and being nibble on by pigs will simply try to ignore their situation and hope things get better. We learned that pigs will eat live geese/turkeys without hesitation.

Quite possibly the most important thing we learned was that after being free ranged, turkeys do not do well in a confined space, no matter how good your intentions may be. When I dropped the turkeys off this morning it looked as though they'd been running a poultry version of Fight Club in the big coop.

We learned that turkeys start laying at around 7 months of age.

We learned that free range turkeys will dress out at around 12 pounds on average.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I'll do anything I can to help you.