86-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 22, 2003
Before There’s Thanksgiving Turkey,
GAY BROWNLEE
Virginnia Correspondent
MX. CRAWFORD, Va. At
Sonny Meyerhoeffers Double M
Farm, some 10,000 turkey breed
er hens are kept.
That’s because if you want a
turkey at Thanksgiving or any
other time, first you start with a
turkey egg.
The breeder hens lay the eggs
that hatch poults at a nursery.
The nursery then distributes the
young birds to turkey growers
who manage their growth, until
the turkeys have arrived at the
stage of maturity where they are
shipped to the market.
“Breeder hens are at the fore
front of everything,” said Meyer
hoeffer.
Every year, Meyerhoeffers
breeder hens produce some 1.4
million eggs for a hatchery oper
ated by the Pilgrims Pride organ
ization.
Beginning at 3:45 a.m. and
going until 5:30 p.m., the Double
M staffers work on shifts that
vary, seven days a week. The
eggs daily are collected 13 times.
The precious eggs are gathered
from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. They are
taken to the egg room, where au
tomatic washing and sanitizing
takes place. In the drying pro
cess, excess water is evaporated
by a fan. The eggs are placed in a
cool place immediately thereaf
ter.
“You get them in, wash them,
and cool them off,” Meyerhoeffer
said, “That’s what keeps them
from incubating.”
In conjunction with a comput
er clock, some 80 percent of the
birds lay eggs on nests that are
operated automatically. Air
pushes the big girl off the nest
Oriana exhibits a few things that remind her of Thanks
giving a Pocahontas doll that usually displayed at the
living room window, her own drawing of the first Thanks
giving, and the turkey candy dish of golden glass thats al
ways filled with goodies.
On the lawn of their Mount Crawford home, Sonny
Meyerhoeffer, Double M Farms, stands with his wife,
Marie and their children who are still at home Benja
min, 13 and Oriana, 11. The dogs are Lady, a golden re
triever and Junior, a border collie still in the puppy stage.
Double M Farm produces breeder hen eggs. Upon being
hatched, the poults grow into chubby birds, especially
popular for Thanksgiving feasts.
Photos by Gay Brownlee, Virginia Correspondent
and the egg deposit is gathered.
At the nests, remaining manual
labor is necessary to persuade the
turkey to briefly vacate the roost,
because in a snug environment
the incubation process can start
before it should.
The Double M crews experi
ence has developed to a fine skill
mainly sight and touch. The
workers have handled so many
eggs it is possible for them to
identify a reject in a hurry.
Double-yokers, for instance,
all-white instead of spotted
Shells, eggs with dirt, cracked or
soft shells, and eggs that are too
small these will be infertile.
“Its all done by eyesight,” said
Meyerhoeffer.
Fertile eggs represent money.
Its imperative that no defective
specimens reach the hatchery.
There is a limit on how many re
jects are allowable per thousand
eggs. If the number goes higher,
there will be a penalty.
A big shift in the environment
has occurred in the years since
Meyerhoeffer’s dad also raised
breeder hens. In todays con
trolled atmosphere, the birds no
longer roam the range as they
were permitted to in days gone
by.
In regard to laying her eggs,
light plays a critical role in the
life of the breeder hen. The
amount of light around the bird
is closely monitored in terms of
hours of exposure.
Meyerhoeffer estimates his
grandfather purchased the farm
in 1939. He is the third
generation on the land, and his
kids, the fourth generation.
The acceptable eggs are on the flat at left. They are shipped to the hatchery. Oppo
site them is a flat rejected for reasons of dirt, double yolks, inferior shells, and small
size.
You Must Have An Egg
Benjamin, 13 and Oriana, 11
are the only children living at
home. Their mother, Marie
Meyerhoeffer, home schools
them.
Thanksgiving Day is always
special to the Meyerhoeffers.
Marie said even though you give
thanks all year long, Thanksgiv
ing is a special time to be thank
ful for blessings, especially for
health and freedom.
Its also a day of deer hunting
for Benjamin and his granddad.
“If theres any football on (tele
vision), we watch,” Benjamin
said. His team would be the
Washington Redskins.
As far as the meal, the mashed
potatoes and gravy are the best
part for him, plus pumpkin pie,
but Benjamin said it can’t be too
sweet.
“I’m thankful for food and
family and that we are in a free
nation,” said the teen-ager.
Oriana loves Thanksgiving
Day for a host of reasons, but pri
marily, “because my whole fami
ly is together and we have good
food,” she said.
Last year Oriana did a wonder
ful colored pencil drawing of the
first Thanksgiving. The represen
tation shows a well-dressed Pil
grim and Indian woman, appar
ently urging guests to join them
at the long table with its platters
of steaming food.
“I love drawing. I basically
draw a picture for every holiday,
she said.”
This year for a very different
experience on the big day itself.
The Meyerhoeffers are going to
Charlotte, N.C. to assist with Op
eration Christmas Child. Benja
min and Oriana, meanwhile, will
be visiting with their maternal
grandparents.
The Meyerhoeffers will be as
sisting those who check the fes
tive shoe boxes the final time be
fore the Christmas shipments are
s6nt around the world to children
who would not otherwise receive
presents. Operation Christmas
Child was founded by Franklin
Graham.
“We will be the last people to
see them (gift-filled boxes) before
they are shipped,” Marie said.
According to trivia statistics
found at the National Turkey
Federation Website www.eat
turkey.com an estimated 46
million turkeys were consumed
on Thanksgiving Day 2002.
In general, about 95 percent of
Americans “gobble” down turkey
at Thanksgiving.
Overall in the U.S., 271 million
turkeys were grown in 2002.
Marie raves about her mothers
homemade stuffing and reports
that she and her siblings were
taught to wash their hands in
order to tear two loaves of white
bread into small pieces. The
bread cubes dried either on top of
the counter or speed dried in the
oven.
Following is that recipe (half
the original amounts) and two
Thanksgiving salads that Marie
herself makes.
STUFFING
1 loaf white bread, broken into
pieces and set out to dry or
speed-dried at a low tem
perature in the oven.
2 onions, chopped
1 stick of butter, melted
'A of a large bag of Pepperidge
Farm Herb Seasoned Stuf
fing Mix
} A tablespoon salt
Pepper to taste
Enough water to moisten the
batch
In a large bowl, combine all in
gredients with the dried bread
and toss loosely. Stuff in the tur
key cavity and around the out
side if necessary. For roasting the
bird, follow directions specified
on the turkey wrapper.
Note: Chopped celery is op
tional. You can use sage and
chicken broth instead of water.
CARROT SALAD
2 pounds carrots cooked ten
der but not soft
1 medium onion sliced thin
1 green pepper sliced thin
1 can condensed tomato soup
Vz cup sugar
Vz cup salad oil
2 A cup vinegar (part lemon
juice, if preferred)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Cook carrots in salt water until
tender, drain. Mix other ingredi
ents together and pour over car
rots. Store in refrigerator over
night.
CRANBERRY ORANGE
RELISH
3 packages fresh cranberries (9
cups)
3 oranges, including peel, but
with seeds removed
3 cups sugar
3 cored apples with peel left on
Handful of nuts (optional)
Grind everything to a relish
consistency (overgrinding will re
sult in a mixture that is too wa
tery). Chill well and serve.