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.
For many people, turkey is synonymous with Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. It’s the delicious, juicy centerpiece of the dining table during the holidays. But if you’re tasked with cooking the turkey, an important question arises – how much meat can you expect to get from it? Understanding turkey yields can help with planning portions and having enough for your guests.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how much meat you can get from a whole turkey as well as different cuts like breasts, legs and wings. We’ll also answer some common questions people have about getting meat from turkeys.
Estimating Meat Yield from a Whole Turkey
The amount of edible meat you’ll get from a turkey depends primarily on the weight of the bird. On average, a whole turkey will yield about 70% of its total weight in consumable meat. However, this includes the weight of the bones. The actual amount of boneless meat will be less.
For example, if you buy a 15 pound turkey, you can expect around 10.5 pounds of total meat with the bones. If you removed all the bones, the amount of edible boneless turkey meat would be reduced.
Here’s a simple way to estimate the amount of boneless meat
- For a small turkey (less than 16 lbs): Figure about 3.5 to 4 lbs per bird
- For a medium turkey (16 to 24 lbs): Figure 4.5 to 5 lbs per bird
- For a large turkey (over 24 lbs): Figure around 5.5 to 6 lbs per bird
The yield can also vary slightly depending on whether you purchase a hen (female) or tom (male) turkey. Toms tend to have a higher meat-to-bone ratio compared to hens of equal weight.
Meat Yield from Different Turkey Cuts
Different cuts of turkey meat will give you varying yields per pound. Here is how much meat you can expect from the most common turkey parts:
-
Turkey breast – The breast contains the leanest and most tender meat. You can expect up to 2 pounds of boneless meat per pound of turkey breast. It offers the highest meat-to-bone ratio.
-
Turkey legs – The legs include the drumsticks and thighs which are dark meat. Each turkey leg will yield approximately 0.75 pounds of meat.
-
Wings – The wings contain minimal meat compared to other parts. You’ll get about 0.25 to 0.35 pounds of meat from each wing.
-
Giblets – The giblets which include the liver, heart and gizzard provide very little actual meat, maybe a few ounces per turkey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions people have about getting meat from turkeys:
How long will the turkey meat last? Leftover turkey will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. For longer storage, it can be frozen for up to 4 months.
How many people will a turkey serve? Plan for approximately 1 to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person. Adjust for larger or smaller appetites.
Should I account for stuffing? Yes, allow for the weight of stuffing when calculating how much turkey to buy. Stuffing soaks up moisture, so it reduces the meat yield.
Can I use the bones for soup stock? Definitely. Save the carcass and bones to make delicious turkey soup stock.
What about the skin, does it count? The skin is not included in the estimated meat yield calculations.
How much turkey is needed for sandwiches? Estimate about 1/4 pound of turkey per sandwich.
Are the giblets edible? The giblets can be cooked and eaten but provide very minimal usable meat.
Key Points to Remember
-
An average 15-16 lb whole turkey will yield approximately 10-11 lbs of edible meat including bones.
-
Plan on about 4-5 pounds of boneless meat from a typical whole turkey. Larger birds over 20 lbs may yield up to 6 lbs boneless.
-
The breast provides the most meat per pound, while wings have the least meat compared to other parts.
-
Allow 1.5 lbs turkey per person for hearty portions and leftovers. Adjust for smaller or larger appetites.
-
Cooked turkey meat will keep for 3-4 days refrigerated, and 4+ months frozen.
Putting It All Together
Understanding how much meat you can yield from a whole turkey as well as specific cuts like the breast, thighs and wings is useful for meal planning. While there are general rules of thumb, the actual meat you get can vary based on the size and specific part of the bird.
Use the estimates in this article as a starting point when calculating how much turkey to buy. And plan on having tasty leftover meat that can be used in sandwiches, soups and other creative recipes!
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.