Woven Meadows raises free-range, pastured, organic-fed turkeys, perfectly timed for your Thanksgiving feast. We start our day-old turkey poults in a brooder in the barn, and once they’re 5 to 6 weeks old, we open their gates and let them begin to free-range in the pasture near the barn. It’s fun to watch them make the rounds of their range each day, pecking about and chomping down on the grass and forbs (our turkeys and ducks graze quite a bit more than chickens do). We also supply them with fresh water and a ration of certified-organic grain. Then every night by sundown they return to the barn to sleep.

Like other pastured meat and poultry, meat from turkeys raised on pasture is healthier than grain-fed-only turkey, being lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in Omega-3s. Plus, their healthy diet of grass and greens make their meat richer in vitamins like A, E, and beta-carotene. Furthermore, by free-ranging turkeys receive more exercise, which seems to make for a denser meat which better retains moister while cooking, and overall is more flavorful.

We are currently raising broad-breasted white turkeys, and because they are able to roam and exercise, and because we somewhat limit their feed (and thus growth), we have not yet experienced any of the health problems sometimes found with such fast-growing birds (as is the case with the Cornish Cross broiler chicken as well). We have in the past raised heritage breed turkeys as well, but found their much smaller size was not well suited most people’s holiday needs; however, we may in the future raise these exceptionally-flavored turkeys again if customers are interested.

Like our chickens, we process our turkeys here on the farm (under the USDA 1000-bird exemption, though interestingly a turkey “counts” as 4 birds!). We aim to butcher on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, to allow pick-up of fresh turkeys for your holiday meals. Any additional turkeys not pre-ordered for Thanksgiving get shrink-bagged and go into the freezer.

Pricing:
Pre-ordered holiday turkeys are priced at $4.50 per pound, and are reserved with a $20 deposit. We expect to have a range of weights available from the high-teens to low 30s. To be fair, choice of weight is first-come, first-served.

Frozen turkey is retail priced at $5.00 per pound for whole birds, and $5.25/lb for halves.