Polyface Pastured Poultry: Turkeys

Fall has hit the valley. Mornings are crisp and cool. Many of us have dug out our cozy house shoes and sweaters to be freshened and warmed by the sun. Cozy warm drinks are being prepared. All the warm rich tones of Autumn are dancing in our heads and before our eyes. 

Thanksgiving is approaching. It's not too early to get in a holiday mood and get your Polyface turkey!

Here at Polyface, we grow grass-fed turkeys seasonally to provide a healthy choice for many thankful American homes during this season. 

While the American Thanksgiving holiday is about so much more than food (with turkey the star in most homes), good food is a huge part of our history, childhood memories, and even a mental state of gratitude and abundance. 

Here's my question: Have you thought about the turkey you're eating this year? 

Our forefathers did not eat commercially grown turkey found in modern American grocery stores for their Thanksgiving feast. Why should we?

We have the solution - an alternative to the turkeys found in factory farming systems which face several significant issues that can affect both the quality of the meat and animal welfare. 

This holiday season, you don't have to choose a turkey confined to overcrowded environments with limited access to natural light and outdoor space. This lack of mobility and fresh air contributes to stress, poor health, and an increased risk of disease, often leading to the use of antibiotics to keep the birds healthy.

One of our beliefs here at Polyface is that we're as healthy as our food.

Did you know that, if given the chance, turkeys will eat about 40 percent of their diet in grass? Grass, one of God's most cleansing and amazing creations, is critical for animal health. 

Here's what we do to ensure healthy happy turkeys with a difference you can see, taste, and feel.

We buy our unmedicated poults (baby turkeys) from hatcheries and start them in a brooder for warmth and protection from the elements. After 3 weeks they go outside on pasture in order to encourage foraging

Using electrified poultry netting, we move them to new paddocks every couple of days to keep them on a fresh pasture salad bar. Because they have heavy, meaty genetics, they can’t fly and therefore we can protect them from predators and soiling their own area with the portable electric netting and portable shelter we call a "Gobbledy-go".

Birds don’t have stomachs; they have a crop, gizzard, and intestines. The crop is a holding sac where everything ferments before going into the gizzard, which is a grinding organ. With a thick protective lining, the gizzard contains rocks the turkey eats. As the gizzard massages its contents, the rocks literally grind everything into liquid that then goes into the intestines. Because grass is harder to ferment than grains, we offer our turkeys tons of rocks so they can efficiently metabolize the non-grain components they find in the field.

We also offer a non-GMO locally-sourced ration similar to our Chicken-feed Ration.  

At about 16 weeks they are ready to harvest. We do not offer fresh turkeys at Thanksgiving because it is often too cold to have the turkeys on pasture in late November in our part of the country. The commercial turkey industry "soft freezes" birds (29 degrees) for months and calls them fresh. We hard freeze them immediately and keep them for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. This way we raise the turkeys when they are the most comfortable, in the summertime, and they can enjoy the greatest quantity of worms, insects, and lush grass. The freezer lets us accommodate our holidays.  

This year, I hope you decide to join each of us here at Polyface and enjoy a Polyface Pastured Turkey for your holidays. 

Not sure how to cook a Polyface turkey? Here's my favorite way: Holiday Dry Brine Turkey

Hannah