**Update: All turkey reservations must be in by March 31st. We will not be accepting any reservations after that deadline.**
Taking reservations for 2017 turkeys! Pre-order yours now!
We are now taking reservations for 2017 pastured turkeys. Because of the much higher upfront costs raising turkeys as compared to chickens, a $10 deposit is required to reserve a turkey.
We will be mostly raising Broad Breasted White turkeys with the option to choose a heritage turkey if you prefer.
Because turkeys will eat up to 50% of their ration in forage (whereas chickens will only consume up to 20%), the difference between pastured and conventional turkeys is even more noticeable than with our chicken!
Broad Breasted White Turkey
Broad Breasted White (BBW) turkeys are the most commonly raised variety of commercial turkeys. They have been bred to have extremely efficient metabolism and grow rapidly much like the Cornish-Rock broiler chicken. The cost of this efficiency is that their massive chests prevent these turkeys from being able to fly or reproduce naturally. This turkey will have the very large amounts of white meat normally associated with conventional turkey.
Because of their fast growth, the BBW will often develop leg and dietary problems in factory farms. We will be raising these turkeys on pasture (supplemented with non-GMO turkey feed), moving them frequently to fresh grass for optimum health and exercise. This will eliminate the vast majority of issues dealt with on factory farms.
BBW turkeys are market weight at 16 weeks and will reach 14-25 lbs.
Heritage Turkey (also pictured at the top)
Heritage turkeys are endangered varieties very similar to the birds the Pilgrims would have eaten. They have proportionally smaller breasts, darker leg meat, are more flavorful than Broad Breasted (BB) turkeys, and usually outperform BB turkeys in blind taste tests. Heritage turkeys grow slower than BB turkeys, which results in a higher foraging rate and sturdier meat. The darker leg meat is a result of heritage birds’ much higher activity than BB turkeys.
Because of their slower growth rate, heritage turkeys consume more feed overall than BB turkeys to produce the same amount of meat. A few of the benefits of the slower growth time is an increased total amount of greens consumed and a higher amount of omega-3 fatty acids.
Heritage turkeys are market weight at 28 weeks and will reach 12-20 lbs.