I only raised a few turkeys and they were ready to butcher at about 8 months. If they get to old they are tuff. Same with chickens.Frying hens or stewing hens. difference is how old they are and that says how tuff they will be and how much longer they need cooked. I like to eat so I got used to butchering and eating what we raised. It took quite awhile to eat one of our own steers. I don't butcher the steers to big of a job for me. But we do it .