Turkey Time!

At 7:00 AM on July 21st I received a call from the post office. The man on the other end of the line told me I had a package to pick up and I could hear them peeping in the background. I raced to the post office and picked up 16 very active turkey poults (I ordered 15 toms, but Meyer Hatchery rounded up and sent me 16).

When I got home, I put them into their brooding box. Most people would think they were chicks. They are yellow and downy, but they have longer necks and a bump in the middle of their head above their eyes which will become their snood (the floppy skin that droops down a turkey's face). They were very alert and energetic pecking at my rings each time I put my hand in the box. Everyone quickly learned to eat and drink, then eventually settled down for nap time.

The information on the box said they had hatched at 5:00 AM on the 19th. This means by the week of Thanksgiving they will be 18 weeks old. This is a little young for toms who are usually processed at 22-24 weeks old, but this is a fast growing breed (Broad Breasted Whites) who will easily become too large to fit into a regular size oven. This makes me think younger may be better. We'll just wait and see!