Perhaps depends a bit on the size of bird you're going for measured against your environment, budget, tolerance, etc. I'll be watching this thread closely as we've been offered a beatuiful but aggressive young Tom, so we're still "thinking about it".

I know the broad breasted whites are popular and yield a nice looking carcass, (another thing to think about). Feather site.com has some great info, particularly about some of the illness to which they can be prone. Some of those birds are very pretty, too!

As for dressing out, I should think the meat would need to "age" for 24 hrs or so at least.

I was thinking the same thing as far as "aging." We usually only get a small turkey for a family of 4 plus leftovers but when we move there will be more family at the table. I myself don't care for turkey on it's own, I only eat it with the usual holiday fixins. I don't dislike it, I just prefer other types of meat. Thanks for the input. Lori

I'm still hoping other more experienced contributors will chime in here, but am still unclear about your hopeful outcome.

If you're interested in raising eyebrows come Thanksgiving, consider the traditional turkey - with a second offering, say goose, or duck or partridge or quail on the side for sampling. (Sounds as though you're bored with turkey). I'm a cook by trade, so can reccomend any of the above as an artistic challenge.

If youre interested in raising your own fowl, all of these birds, as well as turkey,can be raised in the farmyard, but it's never so simple as simply ordering thru McMurrays, and come November, voila!

This is not a missive to discourage you either. Read everything you can about raising turkeys, duck, pheasant, whatever (we raise geese). You've got a whole year. I have read that turkeys are a bit more fragile given some extra parasites, so do your homework.

lfrj, they (turkeys) can also work themselves into the family pet group, they can be really sweet and wonderful. Just take a look on the gallery page at my friends turkey. But if you have an aggressive bird that certainly would make it easier come processing day.

-Sheila

If it's size you're looking for, the Broad Breasted White or Bronze is what you want. When dressed, they will resemble what you and your guests are familiar with as a turkey from the supermarket. They can get quite large, but if you back out and fall into the ranks of the pet keepers, know that these breeds are not bred for long term survival. Their parents were artificially inseminated, as the toms are just too large to breed. Very few live for more than a few years, and often have major health problems associated with their large size.

On the other hand, you have the older nonimproved varieties, referred to by the over used and sometimes incorrect term "heritage breeds". With several rare exceptions, these are basically the Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Slate, Black, Standard Bronze (as opposed to the BB) and the White Holland. These old breeds are the original farmyard breeds, used before the development of the BB breeds in the 1950's. They are smaller framed, and have other advantages more useful when dealing with live birds than dressed. Many claim that the "heritage" breeds are more flavorful than the BB. The NY Times did a very involved comparison study a few years back with some top chefs, where they judged the flavor and other attributes of many of the breeds, including the commercial breeds, in side by side taste testing. The overall conclusion in that study was that the Bourbon Red has better flavor than the other breeds. The heritage breeds on your table present a very different appearance from the average supermarket turkey. Lacking the over developed muscling of the latter, the unimproved breeds appear thinner, with a more pronounced breast bone. They do have less meat overall.

I have raised both. I would liken the difference in any home grown turkey to the difference between homegrown produce and store bought. I have had some very good homegrown BB turkeys, which looked like the store bought, but there was no comparison in taste. I now concentrate only on the heritage breeds, mainly as a breed preservationist. We have a small family, so I don't mind the reduced size. For big meals we would cook two.

Keep in mind that individual birds, even of the same breed, may vary in taste and tenderness, even when raised and processed under the same conditions. Last year we had about a dozen processed, Blacks, Slates and Narragansetts. Some had exceptional flavor, others were so so, but all were better than the dry commercial turkeys from the supermarket.

It takes longer to grow the heritage breeds to a decent size, 6 months as opposed to 3 or 4 for the BB. They are less efficient at converting grain to meat than the commercials too, so it won't save you any money. In fact it will probably cost you more to grow your own than to buy them, but the difference makes it all worth it IMO.

We have a flock of about 27 wild turkeys, one big one has a hurt leg, hummm.