By François Biber

Sask. turkey butchers push hard to fill roasters for Thanksgiving

Oct 9, 2015 | 12:13 PM

With the big turkey dinner just around the corner, butchers in Saskatchewan are kicking the operation into sixth gear looking to fill every roaster in the province.

“We butcher for three days this week and we try and do them as close to the holidays as possible so people get the freshest bird, so it’s a mad rush we like to call it turkey mayhem,” Melanie Boldt from Pine View Farms tells News Talk Radio.

While many called early to secure their Thanksgiving feast, other were caught by surprise when they turned the calendar over to October realizing Thanksgiving was fast approaching.

“When people flip the calendar from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 and they realize that Thanksgiving is right around the corner our phone really starts to ring so I’ve had a phone attached to my ear for the last two days pretty much,” Melanie said.

In their very own processing facility Melanie said it takes about two to three hours to take a gobbling turkey and have it oven ready. But with 1,000 families depending on the family operation to come through for the special holiday, that means Melanie’s husband Kevin is racking up a lot of overtime.

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“His day starts at 4:45 a.m. and it ends at about 10:30 p.m. when he checks the turkeys before going to bed and come Sunday we collapse and cook our own turkey dinner,” she said.

Despite having a jam-packed schedule, Pine View Farms gets even busier come Christmas time with about 30 per cent more orders coming in.

Pine View Farms is located in Osler about 30 kilometres north of Saskatoon. With the average turkey weighing about 15 pounds, they run about $65 a turkey.

Email fbiber@ckom.com

Twitter @Notthebeebs