Humboldt Made

warehouses with their beaks removed, as factory-raised birds typically are. “They’re only worth it if you care about the animals you eat living a decent life.”

“I wanted to be a grass-based farmer because we grow grass in Humboldt County,” says Pec-Crouse. They would be up for local grain feed for birds but it’s typically farmed for people to eat and not priced for livestock. So Pec-Crouse supplements their poultry’s diets with domestically grown organic grain. They say it would be great to only raise geese on grass feed and get lovely, large eggs three months out of the year, “But my family was unwilling to only eat eggs seasonally.”

Broad breasted turkeys, like your average Butterball or other supermarket variety, “are an amazing, beautiful feat of breeding,” says Pec-Crouse. A broad breasted turkey can grow to 20 pounds in three months. PecCrouse, however, raises heirloom turkeys that take twice as long to mature, require more feed per pound and top out around 15 pounds. Crossbreeding a few heirlooms with broad breasted turkeys a few years ago resulted in larger but fewer birds. The upside to the heirlooms is they breed naturally and while that means feeding a breeding fl ock all year, it eliminates the need to buy factory-born chicks.

That extra feed has made a big di erence as the cost of grain has gone up, despite the turkeys’ partial grass diet. Pec-Crouse says their feed prices doubled between November of 2019 and November of 2021. Some of that is due to the general increase in grain prices, but also because they can no longer get a trucking company to deliver cheaper bulk orders direct from the mill. “I’m going to have to put my prices up this year, which makes me feel sick,” they say. Last year the birds went for $10 per pound but this year they may need to sell for $15. “I hate raising prices.”

On top of the cost of feed, the plucker Pec-Crouse has rented in past years isn’t available anymore, which means hand plucking with as many volunteers as they can round up for harvest day the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Tule Fog Farm’s breeding fl ock is alShail Pec-Crouse wrangling a turkey at Tule Fog Farm. Instagram, courtesy of Shail Pec-Crouse ready on Craigslist and while Pec-Crouse regrets not being able to provide the birds their customers have enjoyed for years, they won’t be too sorry to see the birds themselves go. It’s a matter of personality. “They’re just little dinosaurs,” they say. Once the fl ock surrounded Pec-Crouse’s 3-year-old child and one jumped at her belly, clawing her “just like a velociraptor. … Biologically, they’re like dinosaurs but they act like it, too.” Even the one they raised in the house was decidedly unfriendly. The heirloom and broad breasted turkeys yield similar tasting meat, says Pec-Crouse, “But having them out on grass eating green things, it makes them more fl avorful. … It’s very di erent from what you get in a factory farm.” Pec-Crouse is typically in charge of the stu ng but when it comes to preparing the bird, they swear by a little salt rub under the skin and low and slow cooking — roughly an hour per pound in an oven below 200 degrees. Roasting breast-down eliminates the need for basting the breast as the juices fl ow downward. “With my birds, it’s almost a whole day of cooking” to get to an internal temp of 165 degrees. Still, Pec-Crouse says, like the way they raise their birds, it’s worth it. ● Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @JFumikoCahill.

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