Turkey Q&A with Mac

There’s a whole lot to love – and learn – about turkeys and their turkey tendencies and each year we take some time to answer questions submitted by you, our food and farm family. Here are our some of our favorite questions from this year and stay tuned for a special Q&A video soon. In the meantime, don’t forget to pre-order a turkey for your holiday table.

“Do your turkeys fly?”

Yes, they do. They just don’t fly very well. They can fly if they really want to, but they like the house that we give them because it provides protection. And they like the feed we give them. They just really like it here so they don’t see a need to fly away. 

“How long have you been raising turkeys and what’s the hardest part of raising them?”

We’ve been raising turkeys for about 20 years but before that we got started by raising chickens. Turkeys are very intelligent and a bit more challenging to care for so it was helpful to get our feet wet with chickens first. The hardest part of raising turkeys is making sure they have what they need twice a day, everyday even if the weather is nasty. But truth be told, it’s also the best part.

“How much do your turkeys weigh?”

Our Heritage hens weigh in at about 10-12 pounds at maturity and the toms weigh in at about 15-20 pounds. Broad-breasted turkeys grow faster and larger; the hens weigh in at 18-20 pounds and the toms weigh 30-35 pounds. 

“How often do turkeys lay eggs? Are they edible?” 

Turkeys are seasonal layers. The Heritage turkeys lay from mid March to mid June and will lay an egg a day or every other day. In the spring we’ll hatch the first crop of eggs that we get for next year’s flock. The rest of the eggs we keep and eat and boy are they rich and flavorful. We love them!

“How are your turkeys different?” 

Our turkeys are on pasture, running around out in the fresh air, eating bugs. They love clover and other live grasses that help give them a great flavor. The feed that we give them is also certified organic, so no pesticides were used to feed these birds. 

“How intelligent are turkeys?”

Turkeys are often called dumb but that’s just not the case. They’re extremely curious about the world around them and also wary so they take their time to figure things out and communicate with each other in lots of different ways. 

Mac Stone