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.
As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, many people look forward to cooking and eating turkey. A whole roasted turkey is a centerpiece for many holiday meals. But when you buy a whole turkey, how much of it ends up being edible meat? Getting the most meat from your turkey ensures you have plenty to go around for your guests and for leftovers too. In this article, we’ll break down exactly how much meat you can expect from turkeys of different sizes.
Factors That Affect Turkey Meat Yield
Several factors impact how much meat you’ll get from a whole turkey
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Turkey size – Larger turkeys yield more total meat. However, the meat to bone ratio remains similar regardless of size.
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Sex – Hens (females) and toms (males) provide a similar meat yield.
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Age – Younger turkeys have a higher percentage of meat compared to older larger birds.
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Cooking method – Wet cooking methods like braising result in some moisture loss versus roasting or grilling.
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Butchering – Carefully removing all the meat from the carcass maximizes useable meat.
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Parts used – Whole turkeys provide white and dark meat. Crowns have just breast meat.
Average Meat Yield by Turkey Size
Let’s look at how much meat you can expect based on the whole turkey’s weight:
- 8-12 lbs: 3.5-5 lbs meat
- 12-16 lbs: 5-7 lbs meat
- 16-20 lbs: 7-9 lbs meat
- 20-24 lbs: 9-11 lbs meat
- 24+ lbs: 11+ lbs meat
As a general rule of thumb, plan on getting about 40-50% of the turkey’s total weight in edible meat. The remaining weight comes from the bones, cartilage and skin.
On a percentage basis, the meat yield remains fairly consistent regardless of turkey size. However, you’ll get more total meat weight from a 20 lb bird versus a 12 lb bird.
Breakdown of Meat by Turkey Part
Within the total meat, some parts of the turkey have more meat than others:
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Breast: The breast is the leanest and largest portion of meat on a turkey. It makes up around 25-30% of the total meat yield.
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Legs: The drumsticks and thighs have the most dark meat. They account for about 25% of the total meat.
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Wings: The wings provide around 10% of the meat. They contain a mix of white and dark meat.
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Back: The back contains a thin covering of meat good for making stock. But it only provides 5-10% of the total meat.
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Remaining carcass: Carefully removing remaining meat from the neck, ribs and back can yield 10-15% extra meat.
As you can see, the breast and legs make up a substantial portion of the total useable meat from a turkey.
Getting the Most Meat From Your Turkey
Follow these tips to maximize the meat you get from your holiday turkey:
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Buy the right size bird. Consider how many people you need to feed. Allow for ample leftovers.
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Thaw properly. Thawing in the refrigerator retains moisture better than thawing at room temperature.
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Cook to the minimum safe temperature. Cooking just to 165°F prevents drying out the meat.
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Let it rest before carving. Letting it rest for 15-30 minutes allows juices to absorb back into the meat.
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Carve carefully. Use a sharp knife to cleanly slice breast and leg meat from the bone.
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Pick the carcass. Retrieve any remaining meat bits from the wings, ribs, thighs and neck.
Typical Leftover Yields for Holiday Meals
Leftovers are one of the best parts of cooking a turkey! Here’s a look at how many leftovers you can expect:
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8-12 lb turkey: Enough for 2-3 meals for a family of 4-6 people
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12-16 lb turkey: Enough for 3-4 meals for a family of 6-8 people
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20-24 lb turkey: Enough for 5-6 meals for a family of 8-10 people
Slice leftovers from the breast and legs to create sandwiches, wraps, salads and more!
Storing and Freezing Leftover Turkey
Properly stored, leftover turkey will last 3-4 days refrigerated. For longer storage, freeze leftovers in airtight containers or bags:
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Turkey meat: Freeze sliced meat for 2-3 months.
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Soup stock: Freeze stock for 4-6 months.
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Gravy: Freeze gravy for 1-2 months.
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Cooked dishes: Freeze casseroles and dishes for 2-3 months.
Frozen turkey leftovers make it easy to enjoy quick meals long after the holiday!
Using the Whole Turkey
To reduce waste and cost, utilize all parts of your turkey:
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Meat: Enjoy carved breast, legs, wings and pickings from the carcass.
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Bones: Simmer to make broth or soup stock.
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Skin: Render fat to use for gravy or discard.
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Giblets: Cook liver and heart as a treat for pets or make gravy.
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Carcass: Simmer bones to make stock after removing meat.
With some planning, you can stretch your turkey dollars further and waste less.
Frequently Asked Turkey Meat Questions
To wrap up, here are answers to some common questions on getting meat from a whole turkey:
How many pounds of meat come from a 20 pound turkey?
- Answer: Expect 8-10 pounds of meat from a 20 lb turkey.
Does the turkey’s weight include bones?
- Answer: No. The advertised weight is just the turkey without giblets or neck.
How much breast meat comes from a 10 lb turkey?
- Answer: Plan on around 2.5 lbs of breast meat from a 10 lb bird.
How much meat do you get from the thighs?
- Answer: Figure approximately 1.5 lbs of thigh meat from a whole turkey.
Can you use the turkey’s back for meat?
- Answer: While not much, the back does contain some pickable meat.
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.
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.