Workers at Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer spent the last week slaughtering and packaging about 2,000 turkeys, about half of which were raised by the Greaney family over the last five months. Other turkeys were brought to the farm’s slaughter house from other farmers around the state.
Emily Greaney, 17, took over a majority of farm operations this year along with her brother Ben, 15, while their father, Scott, battles mantle cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. “This is the most exciting time of the year,” said Emily Greaney. “It’s a lot of work that goes into it, but it just makes our Thanksgiving meal that much tastier.”
The turkey chicks arrive at the farm from a hatchery in early August and spend the first week of their lives under heat lamps in the barn. They grow to between 14 and 27 pounds at slaughter time in late November.
By Tuesday every bird raised on the farm had been spoken for, including the family’s own Thanksgiving turkey, hand-picked by mom Tracy Greaney.
“I can’t wait to sit down and eat turkey,” Scott Greaney said. “All week we’ve been talking about what kind of pies we’re going to have and kind of preparing for Thanksgiving dinner.”
— Rachel Ohm
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