For as long as I can remember, my mother would eat the turkey neck every Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law did, too. Both claimed it was their favorite piece of the bird. I always found it to be a little stringy, but never wasted that turkey neck, choosing instead to simmer it with the giblets, then chop it very finely and add it to the gravy. This year, for the first time, I raised turkeys on our little farm. Getting advice from real farmers, I purchased six babies last spring. Six because everyone told me I would probably lose a few to predators, weather, or just plain stupidity on my part…or theirs. Despite these dire warnings, I ended up with all six, but they didn’t stay babies for long. I learned that turkeys grow rapidly and eat a lot, and by a lot, I mean A LOT. I tried to free-range them as much as I could, hoping they would fill up on grass, worms, and bugs. Around here, in the land of coyotes and foxes and bears (oh, my), animals must be protected. In addition to the free ranging, they lived a happy life in the coop and the run with the chickens. (I can’t vouch for the happiness of the chickens, however.) I didn’t name the turkeys, knowing that they would eventually be dinner. Although I didn’t harden my heart against them, I didn’t treat them as pets, either. They were really fun to watch, and contrary to what I had heard, were certainly not lacking in intelligence. As the days started getting shorter, I knew “the deed” had to be done sooner than later. I had already arranged with my son-in-law to take care of that duty, and my best friend since the first grade, who is always up for anything, agreed to help. We managed to get them cleaned, although I must admit, it was a lot of work with a little bit of sadness thrown in. I’m really not sure I’d want do it again. After sending each of my assistants home with a turkey-and-a-half, one is in the freezer and the others were sent to the local butcher to be made into breast fillets and turkey sausage. I saved the bones and simmered them yesterday with bay leaves, lots of garlic, and a touch of apple cider vinegar to make several quarts of broth which will be good for what ails us in the coming winter months. As I picked the meat off those turkey necks to make soup, I thought about the fast food throw-away world we live in now. Raising your own meat and vegetables is about as slow as food can get. The thought of wasting any part of those turkeys after taking care of them personally would be almost sinful. It took me a while, but I finally understand why our ancestors saved everything and wasted nothing. My life is filled with blessings. I have helpful friends, a warm home, healthy food, and a loving family to share it with. For all these things, and especially for turkeys, I give my heartfelt thanks.
Talking Turkey
November 16, 2014 by The Minnesota Farm Woman
5 Responses
Leave a Reply to Pauline S. Cancel reply
The Backyard Pioneer
Archives
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
The Backyard Pioneer
The Minnesota Farm Woman 
I have been thinking of trying to raise a few turkeys the last couple of years but have still been trying to figure out how to prepare for them. What kind of turkeys did you decide on, and would you raise the same kind again? What kind of feed did you use (I already have a small flick of laying chickens)? Did you have some kind of roosts for them? How soon were they ready for processing? ? ? Don’t know what I don’t know.
Pauline
LikeLike
I just got the bronze turkeys from the farm store. You can order heritage type, also. I was going to go with a Beltline (a local farmer raises them) next year, but don’t know if I will do it again. The bronze were good..no problems, and cheaper. They did roost, but got too big and broke one, but I had more. I got them in May and we butchered in October. You’ll know when it is time by their size. 🙂 I fed them regular chicken feed since they were in with my chickens, plus, they free-ranged and ate grass, bugs, worms, and frogs. (For some reason, there were frogs all over the place this summer!) Some sources said not to raise them together, because the turkeys could get a disease called “blackfoot”, but I talked to several farmers who said they had no problems, probably because they were small-scale and had clean coops. They were fun, but I was kind of sad with the butchering part. They were very, very delicious!
LikeLike
We had a gazillion frogs this year also. If we were trying to raise frogs, we would have considered it a bumper crop. I understand about the butchering part, as we have butchered some of our chickens through the years and have also taken them to a processor, once I located one. That is what we would probably do with turkeys but would then have to figure out how to transport them the distance, about 45 minutes from where we live. I had read about the issue of Blackfoot as well but I also read about some, like you, who had raised the poultry together with no problem. It’s a sad task when the day arrives and the deed has to be done, no matter who does it. I made my husband take the chickens to be processed this time when the meat chickens we raised from this Spring were ready to go. An anxious day or two for me when it draws near.
By the way, what weight did your turkeys average out at, after being
processed?
LikeLike
We had three hens and three toms. We didn’t weigh them, but figured after we processed them, they were probably 15 to 25 pounds each.
LikeLike
Okay, here I go with another question: did you free-range your turkeys, letting them wander where they would, or did you use an enclosed type chicken tractor?
LikeLike