The second half of Season 4 of the Great Canadian Farm Tour launched today with a visit to Winter’s Turkey Farm in Alberta!
Lyle Weigum showed us around his operation, sharing his expertise with students across Canada. Winter’s Turkeys specializes in raising free range and whole grain-fed turkeys primarily for the Thanksgiving and Christmas festive season.
Here’s a summary of some of the things we learned today:
- Free Range: Free range means the turkeys have access to a yard where they can roam outdoors whenever they like. Lyle says they give the turkeys items to keep them entertained, such as hay bales to climb on, and their yard is fenced to protect them from predators.
- Turkeys Don’t Have Teeth: Without teeth, turkeys can’t chew their food. To help them digest, they’re fed grit (crushed up rocks), which goes into a muscle that grinds their food. Fun Fact: the turkeys at Winter’s Turkeys consume about three truckloads of grit every year!
- Unique Features: The red fleshy part above a turkey’s nose is called a “snood,” while the flap under its chin is called a “caruncle.” Both hens and Toms (male turkeys) have them, but they’re more pronounced in males.
We had so much fun learning about turkeys! If you missed the tour, catch the recording here: WATCH THE TOUR
Join us for the next stop of the Great Canadian Farm Tour on Wednesday, November 6 at 1 p.m. ET when we visit a robotic dairy farm in Quebec! You can register for that tour here: REGISTER FOR THE TOUR
Thank you to Farm Credit Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for supporting the Great Canadian Farm Tour!