[Dellie]

Hi all,

This is my first year doing turkeys and I need some advice on when to kill and how long to hang for.  I'm getting some conflicting advice, some say 10 days hanging, others just 3-4 days.

Also, do I gut them when the are first killed or wait until getting oven ready?  Do I hang by the head or the feet and should I keep the head on while hanging?

Sorry for all the questions, I thought I had it all straight in my head what I was doing but now everyone has come in with their tuppence worth and I'm just confused  

Almost forgot - what is the best temp to hang them in?  I have an outside shed lined up for it but was told it should be at 50-55 degrees (which my shed definitely is NOT at this time of year!)

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Dellie, sorry I didn't see this post yesterday!  Ooops, sorry, didn't realise its now Tuesday!!!

We are culling our turkeys now, will be all week.  They should be hung by the feet, and my Brian cuts their throats to bleed them out after stunning them, but some people just let the blood collect in the neck.

Ideally they should be hung for 10 days, but shorter period is okay if they are not cool enough.

I don't know where people get 50-55 degrees from!  They should be kept as cold as possible, and not gutted until the last minute.  Hanging them relaxes the muscles and gives a better flavour.  Once gutted, they start to deteriorate , albeit slowly, so that's why you leave it til last!

Hope this helps, but if you have anymore questions, please get back to me.

[Dellie]

Thanks for getting back to me Granny.

Looks like I have a busy evening ahead  , hope these boys are fat enough cause I have a big hungry family to feed and they've been looking forward to these turkey's for weeks now!

[GrannieAnnie]

Fingers crossed for you Dellie, what breed are they?  Our biggest one so far is only 9.5 kgs.  I think some of the breeds are changing as the supermarkets don't want turkeys that are too big, but the ones we used to grow in Essex about 14 years ago, regularly reached 11-12 kgs!

I think this year we seem to have a lot of hens though!

[A. Fallowfield]

It's ok for you, I'd ordered mine from Ashley Peacock!

[jaxchucks]

Hi These are the questions I was going to ask, so I am pleased to see I am not the only Turkey virgin!!! one more question please do I pluck them straight away or do I pluck at the end?
I also read on one site that I have to scald them to help get the feathers out is this correct?

Thanks Jackie

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Jax, pluck straight away while they are still warm!  We never scald ours as once water touches them they do start to deteriorate a bit.  If you are careful, you should be able to get all the feathers out.  The odd little bit of fluff, my Brian goes over it very gently with his blowtorch (not too near, just enough to singe the fluff!) then rub over the body gently with a new kitchen sponge.

[GrannieAnnie]

It's ok for you, I'd ordered mine from Ashley Peacock!

I don't know, Corrie gets everywhere these days!  :happy:

[Dellie]

Our biggest one so far is only 9.5 kgs.

Thats worrying  , Haven't got around to doing the dirty deed just yet - part wimping out and part hoping they might get a little bigger!  We have two bronze cocks and 2 brown hens (sorry, not big on breeds, just colours  )

The bronze seem a fair size, although they may just be better at plumping out their feathers, but the hens don't look like they have much eating on them.  I'm afraid when they are undressed they may be a little disappointing - story of my life really   

[GrannieAnnie]

The biggest this year is 10kgs Dellie, but when we lived in Essex our stags (not cocks! ) weighed around 12kgs!

The hens are between 5 and 7kgs

Are your bronze ones actually commercial eating turkeys?  Only we've culled sometimes for other people and their turkeys are actually pure breeds rather than commercial eaters, and they don't seem to get as big!

[jaxchucks]

Thank you Grannie for your help, I think D day will be tomorrow!!!

Jackie

[Dellie]

I think they may be the pure bred ones, my dad always said you could never fatten a thoroughbred, never knew it applied to turkeys as well 

[GrannieAnnie]

These are the cousins of our bronzes!  They are the ones Paul Kelly of Kelly turkeys grows in his woodland!

Are yours like these?

[GrannieAnnie]

And these are Bourbon reds! 

[Dellie]

At least 2 are the bourbon reds, not sure about the others, they are darker than the reds but not as big.  

They actually look about the same size as mine now - is that yours ready for culling or was that pic taken in the summer