Pasture Raised Turkeys

Raising animals on pasture is our thing and our Thanksgiving Turkeys are no exception!

As soon as we bring our turkey poults (baby turkeys) home they’re immediately placed into our brooder. A brooder is a special area designated for baby poultry. While they’re little, poults need very specific conditions in order to grow at optimum health. They are actually even more delicate than baby chicks!

The brooder needs to be kept at a specific, warm temperature so it is equipped with heat lamps in order to make that happen. The floors are covered with pine shavings to help soak up and mask the smell of the poults manure. It also contains a consistent supply of fresh feed and water so that the no one ever goes without. In here, these babies are safe from predators and pests. This is where they’ll stay until they’re old enough (and hardy enough in our Northern weather conditions) to handle being outside 24/7.

Once we decide they’re ready to handle the outdoor conditions, we move them out into pasture into our movable tractors that we used to use for chickens. Every day, we go out into the pasture, fill their feeders, ensure they have fresh water, and pull the tractors ahead one tractors length. This way they have an endless supply of bugs, grasses and grit!

Then, once the poults get a little bit bigger, we move them out onto pasture under our “gobbeldy-go” (pictured here). This is where they’ll live out the rest of their days. We get our turkey poults in July and they go to butcher the weekend before Thanksgiving so that they’re ready for pickup early the following week. These turkeys will be fresh, never frozen and they’re the perfect centerpiece for any holiday table.

We require a $25 deposit for our birds and then they’re $4/lb. They average 15-22lbs, hanging weight.