Second page of article TURKEY
The turkeys come to the Wilson farm in June when they are just day-old poults. They are kept in the brooding house, warmed to 95 degrees, for seven weeks.
"Then we turn them out on the range, " said Friedman. "They are free to roam, eat grass, take advantage of the sunshine and develop in a more normal way than if they were raised commercially."
Through the summer and fall, the turkeys are fed a daily meal of corn, oats, wheat and supplement.
"Our biggest turkeys will be about 35 pounds," said Friedman, "and that is a good-size turkey."
Before they leave the farm, the turkey's are hand-stamped with a label that bears the Wilson name. They are sold fresh, not frozen. Most customers come to pick up their birds themselves, and other turkeys are trucked out to retailers.
In Charleston, Wilson turkeys are sold at Buzz Food Products and Haddy's Prime Beef in Kanawha City and at Tony's Supermarket on West Washington Street.
"People start calling about Nov. 1 to reserve their turkeys," said Friedman. "They'll wait until later if it hasn't been cold, like this year."
The women often find themselves finishing up birds the night before Thanksgiving. And although all their turkeys now are white, they said when the farm's birds were bronze and more closely resembled the wild type, hunters used to pop in at the last minute so they wouldn't go home empty-handed.