In the Spring of 2012, we decided to raise turkeys for the first time. It was a great experience, but cost more than we expected. Here’s the run down on our expenses.

PURCHASE COST

We ordered 3 different turkey breeds:
6 Giant White = $42
5 Bronze Breasted Bronze = $35
4 Rio Grande = $40
Shipping = $20
Purchase Total = $137

FEED COST

May = $90 (13 turkeys)
June = $95 (13 turkeys)
July = $140 (12 turkeys)
August = $150 (12 turkeys)
September = $105 (9 turkeys)
October = $70 (6 turkeys)
Total Feed Cost = $650

TOTAL COST(ISH)

Purchase Total = $137
Total Feed Cost = $650
Total for 9 Turkeys = $787
Total for 1 Turkey = $87.40

The Giant White & Bronze Breasted Bronze Turkeys ended up being around 26 pounds when butchered. That meant they were about $3.36/pound.

It’s personal preference whether the turkey is worth that amount of money. But, I can say everybody who’s tried the turkey has thought it was the best they’ve ever had.

THE REALITY IS IT COST MORE THAN THAT TO RAISE OUR TURKEYS

The $87.40 was easy math. It’s really more complicated than that. That cost didn’t include housing, feeding supplies or butchering costs. Our cost on those items was about $800. I’m not sure the best way to include these expenses. Although, we paid for these things, they will be with us longer than the turkeys.

Farmer John built a Turkey Hut to house the turkeys, which cost around $275.

He also bought a waterer, which he thinks is the best type for turkeys. It was around $30.

We didn’t have to pay anyone to butcher the turkeys because we have the Whiz Bang Chicken Plucker. But, we paid $500 for this best invention ever.
To make the monetary matters even more complicated, the 2 Rio Grande turkeys weren’t processed that first fall. They take another year to mature & get to butchering weight. So, we kept them around & ended up getting babies from them. That’s got to be worth something on the positive side, right?

HOW WE LIKE TO COOK THE TURKEY

Our favorite way to cook the turkey is in my mom’s electric roaster.

Well, that was confusing. Plus, I’m not sure I really want to know the exact cost. It’s an expensive hobby/way of life. But, our kids are learning a ton & we’re showing them the benefits of good, homegrown food.

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Our turkey hen laid eggs under a fir tree. She was very well camouflaged & it took us awhile to find her.

We weren’t sure when exactly the eggs would hatch, or even if they would hatch. Then one day Farmer John & one of the kids spied her walking around with the new babies. So exciting!

She was a good mama keeping her babies in the tall grass nearly unseen. They spent most of the day searching for bugs.

Then one day she took her clan down to the neighbors. It was quite a jaunt from our house. I’m not sure what made her travel so far, but after that we had to coop them up. We can’t have turkeys wandering the countryside. She was not happy about being in a coop.

I really enjoy hatching babies using an incubator, but there is something extra special about watching it happen naturally.

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Hatching turkeys wasn’t in our immediate plans, but then Farmer John found where our year old turkey hen has been laying her eggs. We could have just left them for some critter to eat or we could see if any would hatch. We chose to try hatching them.

We set 7 turkey eggs in the incubator with chicken eggs that had already been in there for a few days. We knew from the beginning that we would have a little problem when it comes time for the chicks to hatch. Chicks take 21 days to hatch. Turkeys take 28 days, plus the turkeys were getting a later start. We didn’t want the turkey eggs in the incubator when the chicks were hatching. But, we didn’t know for sure if they were fertile or if they would develop. So, we decided to set them & worry about what to do if they actually developed.

The thermostat was set to slightly less than 100°. The thermostat turned a light on when the incubator needed warming up & turned the light off when it reached the optimal temp.

We used shot glasses with water to raise the humidity.

Farmer John’s original plan was to put the same insulated foam from the walls on the top, but he didn’t have enough material. Instead, he made this super fancy top out of foil & saran wrap. It may seem kooky, but it worked. I was so nervous that this move to the new incubator was going to harm the developing turkeys.

After the chicks hatched we moved the turkey eggs back to the original incubator and placed them in the turner. I tossed the 4th egg that still didn’t look like it was developing anymore.

Our first incubator hatched turkey poult!

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