Lessons Learned from our black Spanish Turkey

We raised and processed our heritage turkey as if it was a commercial breed. This was a mistake. Heritage breeds take longer to raise than commercial breeds. Last year, we let our commercial breeds grow a little more after they reached commercial size, and they tasted tested delicious. We did the same with our broilers, with the same results. With the Heritage turkey, we actually processed him before it reached full size, because I didn't realize it would take longer. We also bought it late in the season, because we were too busy. Next year, we will have to be better organized. Heritage turkeys take 8-9 months to reach maturity.
I would like to try White Midget turkeys next year. If possible, we will keep a tom and two hens for breeding. The white midget takes 32 weeks to grow to maturity, so for thanksgiving, we need to get the poults early to mid April at the latest. At the end of its life, it is good to set the turkey in a small pen for 2 weeks before processing to reduce exercize, which makes the meat tender. High carbohydrate feed also makes it build up some fat.