What NO ONE Tells You About Raising TURKEYS!

When we first brought turkeys to the homestead, the plan was simple: raise them for Thanksgiving and share a few pasture-raised birds with friends. But two of them — a tom named Tom and a hen named Holly — never made it to the freezer. Holly had been the runt of the flock, a small bird who survived an eye infection only because the kids convinced me to treat her instead of culling her. By the time she recovered, she had a name and a bond with the family, so keeping her (and a companion tom) felt right. What we didn’t realize was how much we’d learn from letting them grow past their normal butcher age. Over the following months, those lessons added up. We discovered that turkeys need more protein than chickens when they’re young, but can thrive later on standard layer feed if they have access to pasture. We learned that their size makes natural mating difficult, that heavy birds can injure themselves landing from high roosts, and that weight balance matters as much for their health as it does for meat quality. Holly started laying nearly five eggs a week — something I never expected from a breed raised primarily for meat — and the eggs themselves were larger, richer, and almost impossible to crack cleanly thanks to a membrane thicker than any chicken’s. Tom lost some feathers and weight but gained mobility and longevity. Together they became part of our mixed flock, roosting in their own shelter at night and free-ranging during the day alongside the guineas and hens. Keeping them longer also changed how we think about turkeys on the homestead. They’re loud, social, curious animals — more companion than commodity — and their presence taught us that slower-growing breeds, though less efficient, produce better meat and a more humane process overall. Going forward, we’ll keep raising these artisanal blacks for flavor but pair them with true heritage lines that can reproduce naturally. The goal is self-sustaining flocks, fewer purchased chicks, and more life on pasture doing what nature intended. Learn more: Automatic Waterer Fix for our Turkeys:    • Automatic Waterer Fix for our Turkeys   Walkthrough of our daily homestead chores:    • Daily Homestead Chores with 80+ Animals | ...   In this video: 00:00 Introduction: Meet our turkeys 00:44 Why we kept the turkeys 01:30 Challenges and early experiences 03:14 Raising turkeys: Lessons learned 07:32 Feeding and shelter insights 08:35 Future plans and final thoughts To follow along with us as we learn the ropes of homestead living, check out our Instagram account (  / kummerhomestead  , where we share the useful tips and tricks we discover. You can also visit us at https://www.kummerhomestead.com #RaisingTurkeys #HomesteadTurkeys