Keeping Turkeys and Help With Cooking Bronze Turkeys

This year we decided to grow our own Bronze Turkeys for Christmas. We have done this many times before but for the past few years we had a break. You can buy turkey Poults at day old for just a few pounds each but they need to be kept under a heat lamp for about 5-6 weeks. Day old turkeys are very vulnerable and I have found it best to buy them off heat at about 6 weeks old at a cost of approximately £10 per bird. This way the success rate is much higher they need no heat or starter crumbs.

Wrolstad Bronze – Hatch week 25 delivery mid-July should give you about a 15lb(net weight) bird for Christmas.

I keep my turkeys the same as chickens free range on grass with a shed / building for shelter. Plenty of water and I feed them on Turkey Grower pellets. This food has a medication in it for a disease called Black Head, which is fatal if contracted. Four weeks before dispatching (slaughter) you must change the feed from Grower Pellets to Finisher Pellets to clear the system of the medication.

Dispatching takes place 3-5 days before Christmas. Pluck the bird while still warm, dispatch one pluck one, then hang in a cool place but do not gut the bird until the day before eating. If you have never dressed a turkey before ask your “Friendly Butcher” to show you, that is how my Partner (Dr Sausage) learnt.

Once you have tried your own Bronze Turkey I am sure you will want to do this again.

So after all the work you have put in looking after your birds you will want to do it justice when cooking it. Here are a few tips:

• For a 12lb to15lb turkey cover in butter and streaky bacon and wrap securely in foil.
• Pre-heat oven to gas mark 7 (220 degrees C) cook for 40 minutes at this temperature then turn heat down to gas mark 3 (160 degrees C) and cook for a further 3 ½ hrs.
• Tear foil from top and sides of the bird remove bacon.
• Now turn up to gas mark 6 (200 degrees C) for a further 40 minutes basting frequently during this time until golden brown.
• Test by placing a skewer in the thigh meat to see if juices run clear. You can also test by tugging at the leg. It should come away easily.
• Always rest you turkey for at least 30 minutes before carving.

  Merry Christmas - Jeannie