What We Learned From Processing Turkeys (First Time)

We butchered three broad-breasted turkeys for the first time ever! Lessons learned and will we do this again?

🔔 Subscribe for more from the farm! https://www.youtube.com/c/GWPHomestead?sub_confirmation=1
➡️ Shop our Amazon Storefront for farm essentials and our favorite odds and ends: https://amazon.com/shop/gwphomestead

16 weeks ago we purchased three broad-breasted turkey poults. One of the goals we set for our farm this year was to raise the main course for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Broad-breasted turkeys grow very fast and at 16 weeks old they are ready to go in the freezer.

We have butchered meat chickens before (earlier this year for the first time) and we were expecting turkeys to be about the same. There are a few differences to consider, mainly the size and the strength of the birds. Trying to wrestle a turkey to dispatch it sounds like a great way to break an arm, so we opted to use a .22 rimfire, which worked great. We couldn’t really use our scald pot setup or the chicken plucker we have, either, but we made do with what we have.

When the turkeys were dressed out and in the freezer they came in at 19lbs (for the tom) and 14lbs (for the two hens). The meat looks amazing and we’re excited to try it out later this year!

After raising these birds I think we’ve decided that next year we’re going to keep some around on a more permanent basis. We’ll get some variety of heritage breed and keep a tom and a couple of hens back and butcher the rest, and hopefully moving forward we can keep this up. I really enjoyed watching these turkeys act like turkeys; the hens would call and the tom would strut around, spitting and drumming just like a wild turkey. It was a lot of fun!

If you’re interested in raising some of your food we have a few other videos on that matter and we’d appreciate it if you’d check them out. Thanks for coming along on our journey to a more self-sufficient lifestyle. If you enjoyed this video please “like” it and share it with a friend. See y’all soon!

-
Subscribe to our channel! We have a small farm in Western Kentucky where we’re raising our family and a handful of critters. Come grow with us.

★ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwphomestead/
★ Watch us on TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeckuB1v/
★ All the goodies: https://linktr.ee/gwphomestead
-
Tools & supplies we like and use:
⭐️ GoPro camera tripod mount: https://amzn.to/3h8N74G
⭐️ Clamp mount for GoPro: https://amzn.to/3BIXnKq

Some links may be affiliate links. It doesn’t cost you any extra and we get a few cents back when you use our link. Thank you for your support!
-
#homestead #growyourfood