A Tale of Two Turkeys, and other poultry adventures

[jennabug]

Yesterday I butchered our Tom Turkey, Wallace. I invited a couple of friends who are hoping to start hunting this year so they could learn how to dress a bird.  He dressed out to 15 lbs with almost no pin feathers. Definitely interested in trying slate turkeys again. I also want to try some "midget whites" if I can find them. 

Also, if anyone is interested in learning about poultry or butchering, let me know.  I'm happy to share what I can. We'll probably do another group butcher demo/event this spring in the tricities. If you'd like to join or know someone who is interested, PM me.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Nice looking bird, why no pin feathers?

[jennabug]

Nice looking bird, why no pin feathers?

Honestly, I'm not sure. His feathers were very fine, and pulled out very easily. We got most of them by dry plucking, even though it was below freezing outside. Under the wings were very fluffy, like a silkie chicken. And the feather shafts were very small and shallow.  I suspect that it's a characteristic of the breed.
The bronze hen that we did was much harder to pluck and I was trying to clean up the pin feathers with needle nose pliers before she went in the freezer.

[kellama2001]

Great story, thanks so much for sharing! Now i want to raise turkeys too!

[180-GRAIN]

Nice looking bird, why no pin feathers?

Honestly, I'm not sure. His feathers were very fine, and pulled out very easily. We got most of them by dry plucking, even though it was below freezing outside. Under the wings were very fluffy, like a silkie chicken. And the feather shafts were very small and shallow.  I suspect that it's a characteristic of the breed.
The bronze hen that we did was much harder to pluck and I was trying to clean up the pin feathers with needle nose pliers before she went in the freezer.

I have a retired butcher buddy that helped me butcher 4 turkeys in November. He showed me a slaughter technique that was pretty neat and made plucking super easy. It takes 2 people as you need to pin the turkey to the ground. Basically you put the knife in the mouth and push it through the brain quickly. Something about this process makes the feathers release and come out really easily. I was skeptical and thought he was screwing with me but it worked like a charm.

[jennabug]

Nice looking bird, why no pin feathers?

Honestly, I'm not sure. His feathers were very fine, and pulled out very easily. We got most of them by dry plucking, even though it was below freezing outside. Under the wings were very fluffy, like a silkie chicken. And the feather shafts were very small and shallow.  I suspect that it's a characteristic of the breed.
The bronze hen that we did was much harder to pluck and I was trying to clean up the pin feathers with needle nose pliers before she went in the freezer.

I have a retired butcher buddy that helped me butcher 4 turkeys in November. He showed me a slaughter technique that was pretty neat and made plucking super easy. It takes 2 people as you need to pin the turkey to the ground. Basically you put the knife in the mouth and push it through the brain quickly. Something about this process makes the feathers release and come out really easily. I was skeptical and thought he was screwing with me but it worked like a charm.

Interesting!  I'll have to try that sometime.  I wonder if it works for chickens too...

[180-GRAIN]

Nice looking bird, why no pin feathers?

Honestly, I'm not sure. His feathers were very fine, and pulled out very easily. We got most of them by dry plucking, even though it was below freezing outside. Under the wings were very fluffy, like a silkie chicken. And the feather shafts were very small and shallow.  I suspect that it's a characteristic of the breed.
The bronze hen that we did was much harder to pluck and I was trying to clean up the pin feathers with needle nose pliers before she went in the freezer.

I have a retired butcher buddy that helped me butcher 4 turkeys in November. He showed me a slaughter technique that was pretty neat and made plucking super easy. It takes 2 people as you need to pin the turkey to the ground. Basically you put the knife in the mouth and push it through the brain quickly. Something about this process makes the feathers release and come out really easily. I was skeptical and thought he was screwing with me but it worked like a charm.

Interesting!  I'll have to try that sometime.  I wonder if it works for chickens too...

It probably would I would think. It really helped with the pin feathers.