October 26, 2004

The turkeys take a trip (ahem) on the truck

Jon&Turkeys.jpg
Jonathan moves the pen that allows the turkeys to graze in the paddocks. When the turkeys move to new grass, they purr and coo with pleasure.

Today was turkey day here at the farm. A good day for us, not so good for the turkeys. Dave Adams, owner of Adams Turkey Farm where our turkeys get processed, had called me about a week ago to let us know that he and his wife, Judy, had scheduled us in for the following Friday. All week we were looking forward to the last time we would have to lug water and grain down the the turkeys. But even that last day, we enjoyed watching the turkeys eagerly gobble up the fresh grass and clover as we moved their shelter to a fresh spot.

Turkeys1.jpgThe turkeys were loaded on to the truck around 6 a.m. and I headed down the road to Westford. Things were just getting started at Adams' when I pulled in around 7:45. Dave, coffee cup in hand, greeted me and helped me get my birds unloaded into the holding pen. He said be back around 4 p.m. to pick up the packaged birds, and with that I headed back to Franklin to finish the morning chores I had left undone.

I arrived back at Dave and Judy's right at 4 p.m. Another customer was just leaving with their processed birds, and they had come all the way from Connecticut!! That made my 50 minute drive one-way seem pretty short. The turkeys had turned out great, with the average weight just over 16 pounds. Since we started the chicks later than usual in July, and the fact that they were all hens, the average weight was excellent. By 5:30 I was home and all 30 turkeys in the freezer. Another summer of turkey raising done!

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Posted by Blogger Chris at October 26, 2004 09:48 AM
Comments

This past fall was our first year raising turkeys, we started with 21, lost 3 in the very beginning then raised them in a combination of free range when we were around to watch them (they wander) and in portable moveable pens like illustrated above the rest of the time. We had Bourbons Reds, Naragansett and some small whites. Our largest was 16 pounds. I was hoping to have a few for our freezer but we had such a demand from local folks to buy them we only had our one for Thanksgiving and none for the freezer. We did our own processing (busy day). It was definitely a rewarding venture.

Posted by: Karen Legenbauer at March 12, 2005 12:46 AM

How long do these turkeys last you?
Are all for personal use?

Posted by: Roberta White at October 27, 2004 02:38 PM

Hi, 30 turkeys in the freezer! I take it you sell them. I just drove from Col.Co. NY to Norwich VT 187 miles so I know what the CT folks undertook and with a load of turkeys yet. Helen

Posted by: Helen at October 27, 2004 05:12 AM