Wasatch High School freshman Annie Davis says she has two “monsters” for sale. These aren’t the kind that hide under your bed, they’re the kind served up on a Thanksgiving platter.
She is among 100 other Wasatch County kids selling the turkeys they have spent the last four months raising at the annual Wasatch Junior Turkey Sale on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Wasatch County Event Center.
“I have really good hopes this year since no one's ever gotten the hens to weigh this much," she said. "So we'll probably be at the very top of the list, maybe even grand champion.”
Davis, on the high school poultry team, estimates her plumpest bird weighs 27 pounds, an impressive weight for a hen. She said the toms (male turkeys) are typically a bit heavier.
So, what’s that special sauce? “We actually have to feed them a lot so they'll grow big and they eat a ton of food," she said. "We have a little secret food recipe that we feed them."
And no, Davis won't divulge that secret recipe because this isn't her first rodeo. A five-year turkey vet, she plans to save her earnings to pay for an FFA agricultural tour to Florida. She will also reinvest it into next year’s livestock (she raises pigs as well).
Kody Clyde, WHS agricultural science teacher, said about 200 freshly-processed turkeys will be for sale. For an additional fee, buyers have the option to send the birds to get smoked for Christmas dinner.
He said his FFA and 4-H students are the best in the country. “They want to get involved in the community. Nobody makes them raise these turkeys. They want to do something and they're learning something hands-on that I can't teach them in the classroom. There's no way I could teach a kid the responsibility of taking care of an animal from a textbook. And so we're actually getting these kids involved, getting their hands dirty.”
The Wasatch County turkey program started in the 1990s and Clyde said he’s grateful for generous people and businesses that keep it running.
“We have a really supportive community," he said. "And it's an auction. So you never really know exactly what it's going to be. We've had turkeys go for $1,000. And they start anywhere around $100, $250, which I know sounds like a lot of money for a bird. But in my opinion, we're raising kids, not turkeys.”
A Wasatch County gravy train we can all get on board.
