In 1960, the average weight of a commercial turkey was 16.8 pounds. By 1996 it was 23.7 pounds and today, thanks to the miracle of selective breeding, it’s 30.4 pounds. Because of the enormous rise in average weight, the number of turkeys raised is down. In 1996, 293 million birds were raised, last year, just 237 million were raised. The biggest bird, a 70 pound breeder tom! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!