We’re Raising Thanksgiving Turkeys for the First Time—Here’s the Story Behind It

We’ve been keeping a little secret this summer… and it’s finally time to let you in on it.

We got turkeys! 🦃

That’s right—this is our very first year raising baby turkeys on our family farm in Nebraska, and we’re excited (and a little nervous!) to bring you along for the ride. If you’ve followed Oak Barn Beef for a while, you know we’re passionate about offering high-quality, locally raised food you can trust. Adding Thanksgiving turkeys felt like a natural next step.

Meet the Turkeys

At the beginning of July, we picked up our first batch of baby turkeys (called poults!), and they’ve already brought so much life and curiosity to the farm. Our girls were there to welcome them home, and their excitement was contagious!

The turkeys are living in a repurposed hog barn that we cleaned up and converted into a cozy new home. We built five separate pens using the large cardboard boxes we receive insulators in for Oak Barn Beef shipments (yay for repurposing!). Each pen has a heat lamp and water feeder to help keep the babies warm and healthy during their first few weeks.

Why Turkeys?

Over the past few years, we’ve had so many customers ask if we’ve ever thought about raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. And the more we thought about it, the more we realized how much we’d love to provide families with a locally raised, pasture-finished bird that they can feel good about serving during the holidays.

We’ve done our research, asked a lot of questions, and we’re learning as we go. But our heart behind this new project is the same as it’s always been with our beef: to raise animals with care and connect families to the food on their table.

What’s Next

In the video below, you'll see the turkeys are small and cozy in their starter pens, but as they grow, they’ll have full access to roam the barn. They’ll be fed a balanced diet and monitored closely to make sure they stay healthy and strong.

We’ll be raising them with the goal of having them ready for pickup or shipping by November 10th—just in time for Thanksgiving. There will be a limited number available, and we’ll open up deposits later this summer.

Want to be the first to know when pre-orders open? Sign up for our email list at the bottom of this page! 

Watch the Video

We filmed a short video tour when the turkeys arrived so you can see their new home and meet them yourself—pecks, peeps, and all. Check it out here: https://youtube.com/shorts/7FEUItFBEQ4?si=lMS9A879yOGOu-VD

Thanks for being part of this new adventure with us. It’s one more way we get to share the farm life—and our family—with yours.

— Hannah & the Oak Barn Beef crew