Pastured Turkey
How We Raise and Process Our Turkey
We raise two breeds of turkey: the standard giant white and bourbon reds which are a slower-growing heritage breed monitored by the American Livestock Breeds Conversancy. Like our chicken, turkeys are raised from day-old chicks and put on pasture in floorless shelters for predator protection where they are moved at least daily and can forage, find bugs and enjoy the benefits of fresh air and sunshine. This combination lets us produce a healthy bird without artificial inputs, antibiotics or medicated feeds. You’ll also find that their meat is firmer and their taste is out of this world - they are truly special holiday birds.
Turkeys are processed on the farm identically to our pastured chickens but have longer growout times (about 18 weeks for giant whites and 28 weeks for Bourbon Reds) before they are ready. We normally process turkey once a year timed for the weekend before Thanksgiving.
How We Sell Our Turkey
The limitations and practices of selling turkey are identical to our pastured chicken: we can only sell whole birds, unfrozen and direct from the farm. This requires our customers to pick up their birds on schedule and take responsibility for safe transport, handling and preparation. Because we time these birds for processing right before Thanksgiving freezing is unnecessary for most customers unless they are also purchasing a bird for Christmas or general consumption during the year.
Turkeys sell out quickly, they are only available by pre-order and require a deposit. We hate turning customers away so if you know you want turkey we recommend placing an order at least six months in advance.
Which turkey is for you? The giant whites are an excellent bird that will convince you to never eat a store bought turkey again. But if you’re looking for something really special a heritage breed turkey is a great opportunity to connect with the way things used to be. The bourbon reds are slow growing and as a result develop a richer flavor and nice texture that compares more to a wild turkey. Bourbon reds are featured in the Slow Food Arc of Taste which profiles rare foods threatened by industrial standardization so purchasing a heritage breed becomes an act of preservation by maintaining a market for non-standardized livestock. Because of the longer growout we charge a premium for the bourbon reds to match the additional feed and labor requirements.
