On the Monday before Thanksgiving, we processed our 5 heritage breed turkeys with our friends. The day was clear, crisp, and it was 29°F outside when we started.
We shut them in the mobile poultry tractor away from their grain feed the night before to help clear their digestive tract.
After each turkey was dispatched (my job), they were scalded in near boiling (~150-180°) water to loosen the feathers, and then we plucked them.
Once they were plucked, the neck and feet were removed, and they were then eviscerated. At this point, we called the younger children over so they could watch the process,
now that the turkey looked more like Thanksgiving dinner!
The giblets (organ meats), neck, heads, and feet were saved to be boiled later for the dogs and cat.
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- The gizzard before cleaning. Note all of the rocks and pebbles.
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- Clockwise from bottom: heart, lungs, kidneys, trachea, liver
After they were cleaned,
they were put in the cooler to await cooking, refrigeration, and freezing. They weighed between 10 and 18 lbs after processing. We ate the first one that night in turkey soup, two more were roasted later in the week. (Served with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, with pumpkin pie for dessert! Yum!)
