Why Stout Creek Farm Turkey?
Our poults (baby turkeys) start their lives in an indoor brooder under heat lamps. This is necessary because baby poults cannot regulate their body temperature and need to be kept at a toasty 95-100 degrees.
Once fully feathered, they move into a movable hoop house structure. This gives our poults the ability to roost in the rafters and forage for their first taste of grass, seeds, and bugs, while still allowing us to provide the temperature regulation and extra protection little birds need.
When they hit 10-12 weeks, our turkeys move to a covered, movable structure (affectionately called the gobbledygook) where they roam freely behind electric fences and move to fresh grass several times a week.
On pasture, our turkeys eat a diverse range of plants, insects, and even small snakes. To supplement what they forage, we provide our turkeys with a non-soy, non-GMO feed. This diversity of nutrients and movement, as well as the slower growth rate of heritage birds, creates turkeys that are healthier, more nutritious, and more flavorful than those raised under conventional modern practices.
Why Heritage Turkey?
Heritage Turkeys are everywhere, from NPR articles to Bob’s Burgers episodes. But what is a heritage turkey, and why should you buy one?
To qualify as a heritage turkey, the turkey must be a traditional breed and meet certain historic, range-based production methods, including natural mating, a long, productive outdoor lifespan, and a slow growth rate.
The commercial turkeys that you find in the grocery store fulfill none of these requirements. Engineered to carry 70% of their weight in their breasts, they can no longer mate naturally, and they have problems walking and flying. Bred for fast growth, commercial turkeys reach market weight within 20 weeks, while heritage turkeys reach market weight at an average of 28 weeks.
Why should you choose a heritage turkey for your Thanksgiving?
Heritage turkeys are more flavorful and taste GREAT!
It's the humane thing to do.
By serving a heritage turkey, you help save the diverse genetic lines of turkeys created from the combination of native turkeys and European breeds of turkeys brought to the US by settlers.
To learn more about heritage turkeys, check out The Livestock Conservancy. For questions regarding our turkeys, email us at stoutcreekfarm@gmail.com.