Thanksgiving turkeys raised the right way

For Thomas Boettger, Thanksgiving isn’t just a holiday — it’s a celebration of tradition, family and food raised the right way.

Boettger, who owns and operates Central Whidbey Funny FArm, has been raising turkeys for the holiday since 2018, offering island families locally raised and ethically produced birds.

Originally from Ballard, Boettger said his farming journey began with a health scare. After he got bloodwork done, which resulted in being borderline malnourished, he knew he needed to change his diet to consume fewer processed foods. He decided to start raising his own food together with his partner and his daughter.

“It started small, like just chickens and stuff,” Boettger said.

Then, inspired by the well-known farmer and lecturer Joel Salatin, Boettger started permaculture farming, which is a sustainable practice based on minimizing impact to the environment while providing the most amount of care for the animals. With this practice, Boettger raises chickens, sheep, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigs and cows.

Boettger raises both heritage turkeys and broad-breasted white turkeys. Only the latter turkeys yield the classic white meat that so many love. With about 38 birds for the holiday this year, the family-sized broad-breasted white turkeys have been bred to be larger, yielding bigger breasts and white meat.

While his heritage turkeys don’t produce any white meat, their eggs yield more protein and have more nutritional value than chicken eggs, Boettger said, which is why he raises them.

Though the turkeys aren’t organic, the farmer raises them from baby chicks and feeds them a diet of traditional, high-protein turkey feed, along with scratch corn, sunflower seeds and leftover produce from local grocery stores.

“We process through all of it and clean it all up, and then we feed it to the animals,” Boettger said.

The farm is a WSDA-licensed food facility, which allows Boettger to process the turkeys in-house and bring them directly to people’s tables. The now 6-month-old broad-breasted white turkeys will be sold within the next three weeks.

Buying local, he said, is about more than just taste. It’s about knowing where the food comes from. At grocery stores, the turkeys are likely raised alongside thousands of other birds.

“Just every thousand increases the opportunity for more disease, more pests, more problems with the animals. So we have found that by raising them in small batches, outdoors, with the bugs, with the grass and the weeds and everything else, is that you just end up with a much healthier stock,” he said. “I know everything that’s gone into these birds.”

With any leftover turkey after the holiday, Boettger makes breakfast sausages.

Boettger’s daughter, now a senior in high school, has been part of the farm since its beginning.

“Somewhere I have a picture of the first time she harvested a turkey all the way through,” he reminisced. “She did the cut, we dipped it in hot water, she plucked it and then dressed it out and packaged it all up. And she did that when she was 12.”

As someone with a passion for healthy food, Boettger explained that farming with these values is simply “rewarding.”

This time of year reminds him of his fond memories from Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving’s a time to get together with family and watch football. It’s really an emphasis on keeping tradition,” he said. “This is what I grew up with is the white meat, large birds.”

His turkeys are big enough to feed a family, he said, and still, there will probably be leftovers — his favorite.

Boettger’s Thanksgiving turkeys, ranging from 16 to 24 pounds, are available for $7.99 per pound. To reserve one, customers can email centralwidbeyfunnyfarm@yahoo.com or call 360-672-9272.

Photo by Marina Blatt. A broad-breasted white turkey is the spitting image of a five-year-old’s handprint painting.

Photo by Marina Blatt. Thomas Boettger said domesticating his turkeys makes them easier to process.

Photo by Marina Blatt. A tom turkey stands among its flock at the Central Whidbey Funny FArm.

Photo by Marina Blatt. Thomas Boettger’s turkeys are six months old and ready for Thanksgiving.

Photo by Marina Blatt. Thomas Boettger greets his female pig named Bambi.

Photo by Marina Blatt. Thomas Boettger’s sheep get along with his dog; they even match.

Photo by Marina Blatt. Thomas Boettger feeds the turkeys a diet of traditional, high-protein turkey feed, along with scratch corn, sunflower seeds and leftover produce from local grocery stores.