Turkey to-go: Washington Township turkey spotted strutting through Butler prior to Thanksgiving feast
About six months ago, Lindsay Michael brought two live turkeys home to have for Thanksgiving dinner, even naming them Gravy and Butters to seal their fate.
Michael, of Washington Township, however, ended up ordering processed turkey for her family’s Thanksgiving dinner, because she got attached to Gravy and Butter, and said she couldn’t bear to eat them. On Wednesday, Nov. 27, Michael took Gravy to work with her at Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, and even put a tie on him so he fit into the business environment — a sight that turned the heads of passersby.
“This is our first time owning turkeys... they are like a dog when you go out and see them,” Michael said. “When I would go out and hug them after work, I asked my husband if we had to eat them.”
Michael said the turkeys were only a few weeks old when she brought them home, and were small enough to fit in one hand. They now each weigh about 40 pounds, so they are on a diet so their legs don’t get too strained.
The timeline of the pet turkeys’ growth lines up with the timeline of turkeys at processor farms. David Jones, owner of Jones Turkey Farm in Winfield Township, said he gets turkeys when they are a day old, and raises them for about seven months to get them ready to sell for Thanksgiving.
“We grow our own feed; we have our own processing center. In September, they start ordering, and customers start picking them up until (Thanksgiving),” Jones said. “Right after the first of the year we start getting the pens cleaned out.”
While Jones said his farm uses all-natural feed for its turkeys, Michael said her two turkey pets have to be on diets because otherwise they would never stop eating, and would basically never stop growing.
The Michaels live on a farm in Washington Township, where they have plenty of space for Gravy and Butters to roam. The 40-pound Gravy puffed itself up outside the funeral home Wednesday, growing to the size of an average dog.
Jason Kennedy, a funeral director at Thompson-Miller, said there has never been a turkey at the funeral home in the 95 years it has been around.
Michael said despite his large appearance and hearty “gobble” sounds, Gravy is docile and just enjoys being pet.
“He has a big fenced in area and a little house,” Michael said. “This is his first trip into town, but he loves it.”
