Pasture-Raised Eggs and Meat

Turkeys

$5-8/lb

2023 Reservations are now being accepted!

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$25 deposit, $5-$8/lb (scroll down for price difference).

Raised on pasture, similar to how we raise our chickens.  

We raise 2 kinds of turkeys:

--broad-breasted (fast, efficient growers, like our Cornish cross chickens, and what you typically find at the grocery store) 

--heritage breeds (more established breeds, slow growth, higher maintenance, more fun!)

Why do we raise 2 different kinds?  

Broad-breasted turkeys are quick and efficient--just like our Cornish cross broiler chickens 

Heritage breeds are prettier.  And I like pretty!  Which is also why we have so many kinds of chickens!  We have efficient egg layers, and pretty egg layers. Colors make me happy!

Turkeys are raised for their first few weeks in a temperature-controlled brooder, and fed a high-protein game bird starter feed.  After they have feathered out, they move onto pasture.  They are fed the same high protein feed that all the other poultry eat, but they primarily forage for bugs and seeds.  They rotate at least weekly.  They have access to a shaded perch/mobile pen, but they prefer to perch and sleep on top of it, or in neighboring trees.  And we let them. Because they always come back!

Broad-breasted turkeys grow fast, like Cornish cross chickens do.  Due to their quick growth, broad-breasted turkeys eat half the amount of feed of heritage breeds, need less space since they don't fly as much as heritage breeds, and reach market size in about 12-16 weeks.  Due to seasonal availability from the hatcheries, that means these turkeys are ready for your freezer around the beginning of November.

Heritage breeds (such as Spanish, Narragansetts, and Bourbon Reds) require double the amount of feed, double the amount of space, and double the amount of time to grow to market size as the broad-breasted breeds.  Obviously this amounts to more input (feed, labor, structures, fencing, etc), but the payoff--and the flavor--is so rewarding!  Due to their more-varied diet, and extra time it takes the reach market size, heritage breeds have a more complex flavor.  Similar to eating a thick, tender, juicy steak from a 9-month old grained-finished cow vs the same from a 2.5 yr old 100% grass-fed cow, the meat is delicious either way. But the grass-fed cow just has a different flavor, due to it's multi-species grassy diet.  Heritage turkeys are processed just days before Thanksgiving, and are wet-aged in your refrigerator until you are ready to cook.

The difference in time and cost in raising broad-breasted turkeys and heritage breed turkeys is reflected in the pricing:
Broad-breasted turkeys are $5/lb.

Heritage turkeys are $8/lb.

You can specify small, medium, large, and XL when ordering, and we'll do our best to accommodate your request, which may or may not result in your turkey needing to be processed and frozen earlier.  These details can be discussed when you place your order, and finalized closer to/after turkeys are processed.  Obviously males grow faster than females, and factors like weather (drought, heat, floods, abundant rains leading to abundant grasshopper populations) can affect their growth.

Small is 6-12 lbs

Medium is 13-16 lbs

Large is 17-20 lbs

XL is over 20 lbs.

Heritage turkeys are ordered in January, and hatch and arrive on-farm in April.

Broad-breasted turkeys are also ordered in January, but can be ordered as late as April, for mid-July hatch/arrival (or as late of an arrival as I can get)