How to Raise Your Own Thanksgiving Turkey

Put all romantic notions of a fanciful homesteading experience out of your mind. Turkey raising is a challenge. There will be great days, and there will be difficult. The end result will produce a flavor that is much more pleasing than any storebought bird could even begin to compete with. The size of the bird will amaze you, should you make it to the end. The centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal, the talk of the day, and perhaps the year. Do it well, and you will be celebrated by friends and family. Blow it, and you'll be buying that last minute, dried out bird at the market, hurrying to thaw, hoping nobody notices. Thankfully, most folks don't get a turkey eating experience on par with that of the homesteader. Still, if you embark on the adventure, consider carefully your advertisement of the feast until you are certain you will make it to the end!

If you intend to attempt to raise your own Turkey, the best reference I can suggest is Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys. This has been sufficient for everything about proper feeding and care, as well as dealing with the more challenging issues of butchering. In our fourth year of raising our own turkeys, our household has relied on this resource, above all. We haven't got it down perfectly, but we learn more every year.

Some basic need-to-know information includes the following:

Rules and Ordinances: Make sure that it is allowable where you live. Turkeys aren't as noisy as roosters, but you should make sure that it is permitted. If you live in a place where such poultry is not allowed, you may want to look into finding a friend or relative who would want to work with you, keeping the bird at their premises. There are limitations, so turkey raising will depend on your circumstances.

Where to get your turkey: Usually, feed stores have chicks available in spring, March to May in our town. Check with local feed stores, and if possible, put your name on a list to reserve the bird(s) you want. I have a tendency to have a 50% mortality rate with turkey chicks, so I usually reserve more than I expect to raise. If you can manage to get your chicks at about a week old, much of the mortality issues will be past. However, turkeys usually sell out quickly in our area, so there's a bit of a time issue.

Get the right feed: Turkey starter is needed at the beginning, at least for the first month, preferably two. At that point, switch to a turkey grower. I switch to turkey finisher about two months before butchering. The finisher fattens the bird. If you butcher a bird that hasn't moved on to finisher, it will be somewhat dry, as the fat content will be low. If you feed finisher for more than that 2 month period, you may end up with an excessively fatty bird. Two months on finisher is a good guideline. We raise several turkeys each year, and so we butcher at various stages, starting from about 6 weeks on starter, to about 3 months. That first bird will weigh less, and be less fatty. Our last bird last year was very fatty.

Separate the males: By about 3 months of age, the males will be easily identifiable. If you have more than one male, they will fight. We have lost big birds due to this, and have learned the hard way. It's best to keep them apart.

Anticipate accidents: Don't leave deep water tubs for turkeys. Don't leave items that could fall. Turkeys seem to find a way to do themselves in. If they have a tub of water, they can drown. If a board comes loose in the pen, they will find a way to knock it down and knock themselves out. Lessons learned the hard way!

I really am not qualified to speak to the how to's of butchering. Story's guide is a great reference. When the turkey bleeds out, it will flap hard at the end, so be prepared to be startled the first time. Pulling feathers isn't as difficult. A huge scalding pot is helpful, with a small fire or propane tank heating it from below. I have used hot water straight from the sink, and at its hottest, this will work for scalding and de-feathering. However, it will go a little more quickly if you have a continous heat source. Because of the pinfeathers, I prefer broad-breasted white turkeys to the broadbreasted bronze. Getting rid of the black feathers seems nearly impossible. Removal of the gullet is perhaps the biggest difficulty in cleaning the insides; the feed sack can easily be pierced, releasing food into your bird. Again, Story's guide is helpful, and I have to study afresh each time we need to butcher a turkey.

Our broadbreasted turkeys weigh around 40 lbs. after they are dressed.  A couple of weeks less on finisher, and they weigh in the mid 30's.  The easiest means of weighing is having someone weigh themselves on a bathroom scale, then weighing again while holding the bird.

For preparation within a day or two, we hold the bird in an icewater brine overnight, then dry it off, and move to the fridge. If you aren't preparing your bird within a day or two, it's best to freeze it.

This will be another issue. Check your bird's size against your roasting pan. Check both with your oven. I know people whose birds have gotten to 50 lbs., and they have had to deep pit barbeque because the oven wouldn't hold the turkey. A 40 lb. turkey fits my oven, but only with the rack at the very bottom. My first home raised turkey dictated the need for a much bigger roasting pan than I had. I suggest a sturdy pan with heavy, strong handles, as a hot 40 lb. turkey is awkward to pull from the oven.

Timewise, a good turkey cooking calculator will be helpful, but not necessarily perfect, in determining your cooking time. First, most calculators don't account for birds much over 20 lbs. Butterball's calculator goes up to 30 lb., estimating 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 hours for a 30 lb. stuffed turkey. Based on that, a 40 lb. bird might take approximately 8 hours. However, last year's turkey was done several hours ahead of time. Apparently, brining a turkey causes it to cook more quickly.

A store bought turkey usually provides our family with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and a couple of rounds of turkey sandwiches. Bits and gravy for another meal, then a couple of nights' soup, and it's done. 6 meals from the one bird seem fairly economical, given the pricing on such a bird. However, a 40 lb. home raised broad breasted turkey provides 3 to 4 times as many meals for our household. The birds, bred for the heavy breast meat, are true to their name. Traditional fare covers at least 3 meals, and sandwiches, as many as 5 or 6 meals. Bits and pieces account for at least another 4 meals, and I can get as much as a week of soup out of one bird. The carcass is so big, that I break it in half, using part and freezing part, so that the kids don't get too tired of turkey soup at one juncture. This is the use for a family of 10, and I'm quite certain that a smaller family would perhaps eat for an entire month from one bird.

At an estimated cost of $100 to purchase and raise a turkey, that's a decent result, and with an amazing flavor. The added bonus of a hormone free bird is nice, as well.