First Time Turkeys

[bobm]

So, what you are saying for a financial investment is something like ... $7,00/ lb. x 27 lbs. = $ 189.00 . ( $ 8.00 / lb. x 27 = $ 216.00 ).Does that include the processing fee of $13.50 or not ? If not then $189.00 + $13.50 = $202.50 for that turkey. ( $216.00 + $13.50 = $229.50 )

 

[RidgebackRanch]

You got me thinking Bob, so I got a list of purchases from our feed store.

The total cost of feed, scratch, corn, wood shavings and the chicks themselves came to $500.00. That and the cost of processing comes out to about $5.28/lb.

I can live with that knowing that they were well cared for and fed quality food not to mention lots of fresh grass and alfalfa, not to mention the joy I get from caring for them.

Knowing this information now I am already planning for next year and I would like to see how much better they would taste being fed even more fresh grass and alfalfa.

Thanks for the motivation

 

[bobm]

Well , good for you Ridgeback ! Treating barnyard animals as a business instead of a pet really helps one in the pocketbook .

 

[Nyboy]

I stopped eating turkey after watching a film on how they are farmed. I wish I could do the same for chicken but love eatng it too much. How do you put a price on humane way your diner was raised?Good for you wish i could do it too.

 

[bobm]

Someone has been watching a brainwashing movie by some animal rights fanatics. I have been to quite a few commercial turkey and chicken as well as livestock operations ( I worked at a major University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.and never have I seen anything near as what they portray as normal /unethical practices. What they usually show are birds / flocks / livestock that have been unexpectedly hit hard by disease but claim that they are somehow abused. And , usually there is some creative Hollywood type staging and filming/ editing. You see, a business depends on making a profit and if they have abused livestock, they will go broke in short order as there is NO profit in raising dead turkeys/ chickens/ livestock. Commercial folks have avian/ livestock veterinarians either on staff or on call. Any hint of a disease and those birds / livestock are sent to the State Pathology Lab for a necropsy and diagnosis with a recommendation of treatment. One of the turkey farms was just 3 miles from our place. They raised about 1,000 birds per year and we bought our Thanksgiving turkey ( alive and then butchered myself) from them. They always looked great and tasted even better.

 

[dickiebird]

+1 for what bob said
I have only been around 1 commercial turkey farm, but I was around it a bunch.
The owner of the farm is not the owner of the turkeys, he gets chick delivered to him for him to raise.
The co that owns the chicks knows how many are delivered and what they should weigh when ready to process.
The person raising the birds is paid a bonus if he exceeds the projected weight, for sure he will not do any harm to the birds as any stress hurts his bottom line.
If I remember correctly the people that own the birds also supply the feed.
One of the growers perks is he gets to keep the droppings. I was only there once when they cleaned out on of the barns and there were dump truck loads of poo.
All the poo was sold to mushroom growers!!!

THANX RICH