Think about Thanksgiving and the image of a delicately browned roast turkey stuffed with savory dressing probably comes to mind.
It’s the mainstay of many festive dinners, but when the facts about raising turkeys are put on the table, it makes you wonder how these odd birds even make it as far as the oven.
While turkeys in the wild are quick and cunning, domestic varieties, bred for fast growth to a gargantuan size, have gained a poor reputation for not being nearly as bright as their country cousins.
Even the name, “turkey,” has been used to describe a person found doing a stupid thing.
While some of their feather-brained traits have certainly helped them to earn the bad rap, turkeys also have a friendly side, which can keep them almost within reach of pet status.
Carol Long of Little Peepers Ranch in Lone Butte, and her husband, Duane, have learned all of the above are true, after getting into the small-scale business of raising free-range turkeys and other poultry.
They started this past spring with 50 turkey chicks, called poults, including the commercial breed, Nicholas whites, which are hybrid virtual meat machines, and 18 wild eastern heritage variety turkeys.
While Carol, a longtime herds person by profession, has been around farm animals for most of her life, there were things she discovered about raising turkeys that were news to her.
Having an adequately warm air temperature is key to keeping poults under one week of age alive, she says.
“If they get cold, they will huddle and climb on top of each other and the ones on the bottom can suffocate.”
The same applies to older birds.
Carol says she believes hybridized turkeys have had much of their natural instincts bred out of them and that may account for why they must also be taught how to eat.
She says baby turkeys run the risk of starving to death even when there is an abundance of food in front of them.
“They’re pretty docile and it’s a good idea to put them with baby chicks in the beginning. Chicks are more aggressive at pecking and the poults learn to eat by example. I’ve heard of people losing a lot of birds to starvation.”
She’s also heard people say that turkeys are so dumb, and they will even drown in their own drinking water. While she hasn’t experienced that with her own flock, or more correctly, rafter, of turkeys, she doesn’t take any chances, and raises their water dispensers higher off the ground as the birds grow.
It’s not only their lack of survival skills that can keep turkeys from ending up as an entree because while they’re low on brainpower, turkeys are also full of personality, says Carol.
“They have a very curious and friendly nature, and if you have something eye-catching, they want to taste it – something like a little dog or a grandchild.”
She describes them as being almost doe-eyed, with large, black peepers.
The males, or Toms, are fun to watch when they puff up their breast and fan their tail feathers. While it looks like an aggressive behaviour, it’s really a way of making themselves appear attractive to the females.
“They are really quite the show-offs and think they are very good-looking, like your typical young male. They’re just strutting their stuff, while the hens are more watchful and curious. They’ll watch the males very carefully before they choose their mate.”
She says that Duane got very attached to their birds during the course of raising them.
“Every time he went out there, he’d talk to them and pet them. He couldn’t bear to be there at butchering time and he even considered keeping them all as pets.”
While their turkeys are raised for consumption, Carol and Duane try to give them the best life possible. All of their birds have access to warm and dry shelter as well as huge outdoor grassy enclosures where they can move freely, feed on greens and chase bugs.
“We’ve found that many of our customers want to know how their bird was raised, fed and treated.”
She adds that demand for heritage turkeys is strong because many people want to get back to a more natural type of bird. While heritage breeds are smaller, they are also hardier, with the ability to fly and perch themselves up off the ground.
Their flock of 18 was unfortunately cut down to just two recently when a neighbour’s dog broke through the page wire fencing and got into the turkey pen. It’s a story all too common among turkey farmers and just another one of many obstacles that lay between turkeys and the dinner table.
With so many issues, turkeys should almost be worth their weight in gold. Truth is, they aren’t, and Carol and Duane raise them for a bit of cash, and largely for the peace of mind that their birds have a good life before meeting with the butcher block.
The icing on the cake is when it comes down to enjoying a meal of roast turkey, and Carol shares tips on how she is able to keep it moist and juicy. She likes to place the bird breast side down for much of the cooking time, and then flip it over for the last part, leaving enough time for the breast to brown.
Other than that, it’s all of the usual spices, including poultry spice mix, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, with everything sprinkled both on the turkey and in the water that’s been added to the pan.
“It’s nothing too unusual, but it’s always worked well for me.”
