Raising meat turkeys is an adventure on many levels. I’ve had the pleasure of growing a turkey for Thanksgiving for years, starting back in high school. It’s one thing to raise turkeys for dinner, but when you’re trying to turn a dollar, things do get complicated. Let me share some of my experiences with raising meat turkeys so that you can start off on the right foot.
Buying a frozen turkey at the supermarket is a very simple, and very cheap avenue, to a turkey dinner. That being said, like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Just like store-bought eggs can’t compare to your eggs fresh from the coop, supermarket turkeys aren’t the same as fresh-off-the-farm birds. If you want the most tender, most flavorful, and absolute freshest bird for your festivities or dinner, then a bird raised at home is your best bet.
I spent my high school years in a regional agricultural school, and as such, I was a member of the FFA. All members of FFA need what’s called an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) project. Some kids did gardening, some had horses, but I raised birds.
As a freshman in high school, I already had experience raising show poultry. I was breeding fancy show chickens and having a grand time, but there was no profit to be found. AgEd stressed the importance of running your project like a business, and my business was buried in the red. I needed a product to sell and somehow turkeys caught my attention.
Like any business, it’s important to watch how much you spend and how much you make. As long as your expenditure is lower than your gross income, things are cheery, as it was when I started in turkeys. However, things changed.
In the early 2000s, feed prices started to climb, and consequently, so did my costs. By the time I graduated college, my farm expenses were exceeding my farm income, which was an issue. Despite that, I did continue the tradition for a bit longer than I should have.
Sometimes you need to take a step back from things and give yourself time to reconsider. Now that I’ve had some time away from raising meat turkeys, I can identify my shortcomings. When I started, my inexperience was offset by low feed prices. The fault in the business’ foundation opened wide when those feed prices climbed.
I was a big fan of big birds. Unfortunately, my success in growing a big, broad-breasted turkey would be my undoing. My customers wanted a larger bird than your standard supermarket bird, but not as big as I was growing. Once I started producing 50-pound turkeys (dressed weight), I should have realized it was time to back off, but I didn’t.
Raising your own turkey for Thanksgiving dinner or just to have farm-fresh meat can be very rewarding. However, before taking the plunge, it’s important to understand the costs involved with raising turkeys so you can budget appropriately. In this article, we’ll break down the major expenses so you know what to expect when raising your own turkeys.
Purchasing Poults
The first expense when raising turkeys is purchasing the young poults Poults are baby turkeys that are usually sold when they are 1-2 days old, Here are some key things to know about purchasing poults
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Most hatcheries require a minimum order of 15-25 poults since turkeys do better when raised in a group, Each poult can cost $5-10 each depending on the breed
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Heritage breed poults are more expensive, often $10 or more per poult However, heritage breeds don’t grow as fast or large as commercial breeds.
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You’ll also need to factor in shipping costs which can be $20-50 depending on your location.
So for example, if you purchase 25 Bronze Broad Breasted poults at $5 each plus $30 shipping, your initial cost would be $155. For a small flock, purchasing the poults each spring is the easiest approach.
Feed Costs
Feed is the biggest ongoing expense when raising turkeys. Turkey poults start out eating a 28% protein starter feed and then transition to a 20% grower ration. Here’s a rough estimate of how much it costs to feed one turkey from poult to processing:
- Weeks 1-8: 15 lbs of starter feed ($10)
- Weeks 8-14: 25 lbs of grower feed ($15)
- Weeks 14-processing: 25 lbs of finisher feed ($15)
So altogether, about 65 pounds of feed per turkey at a cost of $30. Of course, this can vary some based on your specific feed prices. If you buy pre-mixed turkey feed, costs may be a little higher than mixing your own rations.
With a small flock of say 10 turkeys, your total feed costs would be around $300. The exact amount depends on how long you raise the birds until processing.
Housing and Equipment
Turkeys require some special housing considerations:
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Brooder setup for newly arrived poults with heat lamp, bedding, feeders and waterers.
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Larger roosting spaces as they grow since turkeys are much bigger than chickens. Each turkey needs about 6 square feet of coop space.
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Fencing at least 4 feet high around their outdoor area since turkeys are adept flyers.
You may be able to modify existing chicken coops for turkeys, but you may need to build a turkey-specific run. Budget $200-500 for a basic turkey coop and run.
Specialized equipment like feeders, waterers, heat lamps and brooder supplies can run $150-300. These are one-time startup costs that can be used for many years.
Other Costs
Here are a few other costs that should be part of your turkey raising budget:
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Bedding like wood shavings or straw for flooring. Figure at least 5 bags for a season at $5-10 per bag.
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Health care supplies like vitamin and electrolyte supplements. Budget $50-100 for a basic first aid kit.
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Butchering equipment if processing the birds yourself, such as cones and a plucker. Allow at least $300 for basic equipment.
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Miscellaneous costs like utilities, property taxes, insurance, etc. For a small backyard flock this might be $50-100 annually.
Estimated Total Costs
Adding up the major expenses involved:
- Poults: $150
- Feed: $300
- Housing and equipment: $500
- Bedding and health care: $100
- Butchering: $300
- Misc costs: $100
The total cost to raise 10 turkeys works out to around $1,450, or about $145 per turkey. Of course your costs may vary based on things like poult prices, organic or conventional feed, housing design, and equipment needs.
Heritage breeds that take longer to mature will cost a little more given increased feed and housing costs. Commercial Broad Breasted turkeys mature quicker so they are more efficient to raise.
Is It Worth It?
At a retail cost of $1-2 per pound for a whole turkey, raising your own costs anywhere from $145-290 each. So financially, it usually makes more sense to just buy a turkey from the store.
However, by raising your own birds you can control exactly how they are raised, processed, and fed. Many homesteaders feel the added cost is worthwhile knowing their turkey lived a good life. Plus you’ll have the satisfaction of providing your family’s turkey dinner from start to finish!
Overall, with some planning and accurate budgeting, raising turkeys can be an extremely rewarding experience. While not cheap, caring for a small backyard flock of 10-25 turkeys is feasible for many people. Be sure to do your homework beforehand so there are no surprises come Thanksgiving when it’s time to enjoy your home-grown turkeys!
Feed and Water Equipment
Turkeys can eat just fine out of a chicken feeder, but regular chicken water nipples are a no-no. Turkeys require a much higher flow rate for nipple valves to work for them since they’re such a big bird. Turkeys drink a lot of water, much more than you would expect. Manually filling water dispensers will become the bane of your existence, so I highly suggest an automatic water system.
Automatic bell waterers are a simple solution to the issue, but there are high-flow turkey nipple valves on the market. If you decide to try using turkey nipples, be prepared to buy a commercial style watering system. It’s a good investment if you want to be serious about raising meat turkeys, but the cost may scare off some people.
There are a few interesting breeds out there available to you, such as the Royal Palm turkey and the Midget White. If you’re raising turkeys with chickens for fun, then by all means, try some cool heritage breeds!
If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, you can’t go wrong with either a Bronze or White Broad Breasted turkey. These giant birds are king (and queen) of feed conversion, which is how much feed they eat, versus how much meat they produce. These birds grow fast, are available at most commercial hatcheries and are usually inexpensive compared to rarer breeds because of sales volume.
Point of Diminishing Returns
If you’re raising meat turkeys correctly, your toms should be yielding a dressed weight of about 30 pounds at 4.5 months old. I was growing my birds closer to 6 months old before processing, which was a waste of feed. Most of my customers wanted a much smaller bird, preferably one that would fit in their oven. As such, I had a hard time selling my extra-large birds. Those large birds that didn’t sell constituted significant financial losses for me.
When I started growing turkeys, I began on bagged feed. As prices went up, I found my local feed mill and started buying in bulk. If you have a feed mill at your disposal, use it! Buying bulk feed represented a big cost saving over bagged feed.
As I experimented with raising meat turkeys, I also tried different feeds available through the mill. I found a product that was super high in protein, which made my birds grow fast and big. However, that massive bird was my undoing.
Be sure you’re using the right feed, and if you don’t know which is best, ask. Even though I found a high-performance feed that gave results, those results were more expensive than they needed to be. Had I used the correct feed, I would have seen good, controlled growth in my birds. My feed costs would have been lower and my dressed weights would have been easier to sell.
The COST of Raising Your Own Thanksgiving Turkey
FAQ
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