Dispatching and finishing foods for broad breasted bronze turkeys

[Blue Legs]

Tis nearly time to harvest my turkeys. I have harvested plenty of chickens, but this is my first experience with a larger bird like this. I want to make this as quick as possible for everyone involved while also maximizing the meat quality. With chickens, I grab them by their ankles, give them a few swings around to disorient them, and then into the kill cone for a quick, deep, side to side cut in the mid throat. Typically the birds are bled out and unconscious within moments. This will clearly not work with 20 plus pound birds. I am currently planning on cutting the corner off a feed sack, inserting bird, straddling bird, and then doing the same quick, deep, side to side cut I do on the chickens.
I am hoping for suggestions from the community that have experience harvesting turkeys regarding incapacitating/stunning/disorienting the turkeys prior to harvest. Would doing this in the pre dawn hours be better for them or does time of day make little difference. I am also hoping for suggestions on finishing grains, they are currently free ranging during most of the day and have access to a general flock raiser food in the morning and evening.

 

[MysteryChicken]

For Turkeys we shoot them in the head with a .22, then cut the head off to let them bleed out.

 

[nicalandia]

For Turkeys we shoot them in the head with a .22, then cut the head off to let them bleed out.

That works, I have had bad experiences with half dead turkeys running around due to poor edge on knife

 

[MysteryChicken]

With our turkeys this year, I'm mixing meat bird food, & scratch with their flock Raiser, just to compare which diet is best.

I addition to their regular feed, we give them greens like grass, dandelions, lettuce, carrots, & carrot tops.

 

[MysteryChicken]

That works, I have had bad experiences with half dead turkeys running around due to poor edge on knife

Yep.

We certainly wouldn't want to experience that.