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.
Turkey is a holiday staple, especially during Thanksgiving When buying a whole turkey, one of the most common questions is “how much meat will I get from this bird?” The amount of edible meat you can harvest from a turkey depends on several factors Understanding meat yields from a whole turkey ensures you buy the right size bird for your gathering.
Estimating Turkey Meat Yields
The typical whole turkey contains a surprising amount of bone, cartilage, and other inedible parts. After roasting and carving, only 40-50% of the original weight remains as edible meat. The other 50-60% is lost to things like bones, skin, and trimmings.
For example, if you buy a 16 lb whole turkey, expect to get about 6-8 lbs of cooked meat after removing waste and bones Here’s a rough guide to meat yields from different turkey sizes
- 10 lb turkey = 4-5 lbs meat
- 12 lb turkey = 5-6 lbs meat
- 14 lb turkey = 6-7 lbs meat
- 16 lb turkey = 6-8 lbs meat
- 18 lb turkey = 7-9 lbs meat
- 20 lb turkey = 8-10 lbs meat
These turkey meat yields account for 3-4 oz of meat per serving if you plan moderate portions. Buy a larger bird if hearty appetites will be at your dinner table.
What Impacts Meat Yield From a Turkey
Several key factors affect how much usable meat you’ll get from your holiday turkey:
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Turkey Sex – Hens yield more meat pound for pound than toms. Hens average 50% meat, toms 40%.
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Breed – Heritage turkeys have higher bone/skin percentages than commercial broad-breasted turkeys.
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Feeding – Pasture-raised and organic turkeys have leaner meat than conventionally raised.
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Cooking Method – Roast turkeys lose more moisture from the breast than smoked or fried.
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Carving Skill – Careful carving maximizes meat harvested from the bones.
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Weighing Leftovers – Weighing cooked meat gives the most accurate yield compared to raw weight.
Tips For Maximizing Turkey Meat
Follow these tips to get the most meat possible from your holiday bird:
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Brine the turkey to infuse moisture and make carving easier.
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Cook to 160°F then let carryover cooking bring it to 165°F.
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Let the turkey rest 30 minutes before carving so juices can absorb.
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Use a sharp knife to cleanly slice meat from the bones.
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Carefully pick remaining bits of meat from the carcass after carving.
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Make turkey stock from the carcass for soups or gravy.
Buying The Right Turkey Size
Keep these guidelines in mind when purchasing your holiday turkey:
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Allow 0.75 lbs turkey per person as a rule of thumb.
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Estimate 4 oz cooked meat per average serving.
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Buy a little extra for hearty eaters and leftovers.
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Choose hens for slightly higher meat-to-bone ratio.
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Factor in your carving skills if meat tends to stay on the bones.
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Get just a breast or parts for small groups to reduce waste.
With proper planning, you can feel confident your turkey will provide plenty of delicious meat for your holiday feast. Then relax and enjoy carving up this memorable mealtime centerpiece.
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.
How much meat do you get from a 20 pound turkey?
FAQ
How much meat do you get from a 12 lb turkey?
For about every pound of turkey, guests will get about eight to nine ounces of meat.
How much meat is actually on a turkey?
the total meat yield per carcass was 4,016 grams (59.3%) (Table 1). The average skin yield was 509 grams or 7.5% of the carcass weight.
What is the average meat yield from a wild turkey?
A typical wild turkey yields 8–12 pounds or more, including bone-in meat, depending on the size of the bird and assuming that all parts are kept (legs, thighs, wings, breasts, and giblets).
How many pounds of meat are in a 20 pound turkey?
We have a 20 pound turkey which should roughly yield 11 pounds of roast meat and scraps.
How much meat do you get from a Turkey?
**The amount of meat you get from a turkey** primarily depends on the size of the bird itself. On average, a 12-pound turkey will provide approximately 4.8 pounds of meat, while a larger 24-pound turkey can yield around 9.6 pounds of meat. It is important to keep in mind that these weights include both white and dark meat.
How much meat can a 20 pound turkey eat?
For those purchasing domestic turkeys from the grocery store, the meat yield is typically higher compared to wild turkeys. A 20-pound domestic turkey can yield approximately 8 pounds of boneless breast meat and 4 pounds of boneless thigh meat, resulting in a total of 12 pounds of edible meat.
How much meat is in a pound of Turkey Breast?
**A turkey breast typically yields about 2 pounds of meat per pound of uncooked meat.** 2. How many servings will a turkey provide? **As a rough estimate, a pound of bone-in turkey provides about one serving, while a pound of boneless turkey provides 1.5 servings.
How much meat does a wild turkey eat?
For wild turkey hunters, the question of meat yield often arises. While the size and breed of the bird can influence the amount of meat, a general guideline is that a 20-pound wild turkey will yield around 3 pounds of boneless breast meat and 2 pounds of boneless thigh meat.
How much thigh meat does a 10 pound turkey have?
A 10-pound turkey can yield approximately 2.4 pounds of breast meat. 4. How much thigh meat does a turkey have? A turkey typically contains about 1.4 pounds of thigh meat.
How much Roasted Turkey should a 22 pound turkey eat?
The book says a 22-pound turkey will yield 12 pounds of roasted meat, including scraps, which equates to 22 servings — lining up perfectly with USDA guidance. “Chef’s Book” also suggests you can stretch that 22-pound bird to 40 servings “on a buffet when served with other meats and salads.” How much Turkey should a 10 pound turkey eat?