I've just skinned a turkey tonight-It's unlike any of the others I have done-although I have only done a handful. It's a large Jake and it was very light in color-white with light brown feathers. It was very large. Maybe close to 30 lbs-the skin is very very thin and it had a huge amount of fat on it. I wonder what it is and where it came from? It reminds me of a giant store bought turkey.
I'm not looking forward to fleshing it. I mainly do upland birds and waterfowl and the wire wheel I use works great on these-I was wondering if a stiffer wire wheel would make the job easier? Any suggestions on making the fleshing job easier would be appreciated.
P.S. This is a wholesale bird I took-should have charged more!
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On my other post......I meant to say the skin was very THICK, not thin. Sorry. Norman
You have a domestic turkey there. Your regular wheel will work, but it will take "a while." (understatement!) You may have to make shallow cuts across the worst fatty areas in order for the wire wheel to be able to get at it. I tried a coarser wheel on a turkey a long time ago and it damaged the roots of the quills so much that the feathers started dropping out. I would just bite the bullet and use what you have.
I used to cut very large turkeys into two sections, a front half and a back half, divided around the body just behind the back edge of the main brest feathers. I don't do it now because I'm better equipped for handling them, but back then it was a big help. It was much easier for me to flesh, wash, and dry the turkey halves and then sew them back together right before mounting it.
If your turkey has white feathers on it's head you are going to have to deal with overspray problems when you paint it. A stock wild turkey head won't work. You might consider using a cast head.
I don't like them as much, usually, but the white feathered ones are a special case.
Good luck.
Nancy M.