Raising Turkeys In The Old Days

When I was watching the news last night, saw where at Adam's Turkey Farm in Westford, one family bought a turkey that weighed a little over 37 Pounds and cost them about $130. Back in the 1940s, I remember selling oven ready turkeys that I had raised for 60 cents a pound. I remember we used to order the Turkey Poults from someplace in Pennsylvania and they came in cardboard boxes about 6 inches high that had holes all around it. I believe they came through the U S Mail, or on the train, but can't remember exactly, but do remember we had to go someplace and pick them up. There were usually one or two dead when they arrived.

This had to have been after 1943 as I remember we had electricity, because we had a brooder, which was a metal tent shaped contraption that had a 25 watt bulb in it to provide heat for the noisy little cusses. We used to order 50 and if lucky would have a yield of 45 or so. My parents used to buy the turkeys and the grain to feed them and it was my job to take care of them. Actually as I look back, it was a pretty good deal as my parents would get half of the turkeys for themselves and I got the other half to sell and pocket the money. Actually, they even helped me butcher the turkeys and get them oven ready, which I have to say was not an easy job as I remember using pliers to pull those pin feathers out. Today, most turkey producers bring their turkeys to a professional who prepares them for the oven. Actually, I saw recently where they have a mobile unit that goes directly to the turkey producer to prepare them for market.

We would have fresh turkeys to eat at home, but also rented several frozen food lockers down at the Fairfield Center Creamery. These were big drawers in a wall inside a freezer that you had a key for your own drawer and were able to go in and get your frozen meat whenever you wanted. I believe the large drawers used to cost about $12 a year.

Here in Fairfax, Maryann tells me that they used to have Frozen Food Lockers in the store where Steve Alderman used to be, now Vermont Food Ventures that were the same thing as we had in Fairfield.

I don't believe I have ever seen any turkeys being raised here in Fairfax, however, I suspect there could be some people that still do. I was invited up the Paul & Karen Langelier a few years ago to watch their operation in early September where friends and family gather to butcher their chickens they have raised. Think I have some pictures somewhere I took of that, as well as an old photo of us up on the Ridge in the 1940s butchering our chickens. Quite a difference between then and now.

Click on the following link to view the Langelier Operation in 2005 and The Raymond Operation in the 1940s:

http://www.vtgrandpa.com/forum/index.php?topic=549.0