You can picture the scene. The president of the United States, their family and a large gathering of Washington elite. The press is gathered around outside the White House, where the president will ceremoniously grant a presidential pardon to one lucky turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation to the president of the United States has been an annual tradition since 1947 when President Harry Truman received a live turkey from the National Turkey Federation. The event signals the beginning of the holiday season of thanks and recognizes the contributions of America’s turkey producers and farmers.

What you see on TV, however, is just a small fraction of all that goes into the extravagant event. Behind the scenes, it takes months of care and hard work to raise, train and ultimately select which two turkeys are fit for a presidential pardon. Elanco is proud to employ two who have first-hand experience in the turkey pardon, technical consultants Dr. Chase Miller and Dr. Bob Evans.

Miller has seen the whole process firsthand. In 2012, his family farm was selected to raise the birds that would be sent to the White House to be pardoned by former President Barack Obama.

In the end, the Millers sent two turkeys to the White House to be pardoned: Cobbler and Gobbler.

Selected by the National Turkey Federation

Each year, the farm that will raise the birds for the annual turkey pardon is selected by the president of the National Turkey Federation.

In 2012 the president chose the Miller's complex to raise the turkeys they needed. The president also worked with Evans, who at that time was a veterinarian for the turkey integrator.

“We got called one day and were told that we were going to raise the turkey for the president,” Evans recalls. “We were like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’ We didn’t even raise toms. We raised hens.”

Evans went out to the Miller’s farm and found a building they could use to house the special flock, although it did have to be renovated.

“Craig Miller was selected because, first of all, he’s a good grower,” Evans said. “And second, he definitely had the space on his farm to do a good job.”

A Flock of Presidential Turkeys

The flock of 40 birds being groomed for a presidential pardon was not raised like any other turkey flock on the Miller’s farm.

“They were definitely pampered,” Evans said.

Renovations were made to an old chicken coop that the Millers owned. They gutted the building and brought in new cement and fresh litter. This coop kept these turkeys distant from the actual commercial birds on the farm.

Evans was one of the chief turkey handlers and trainers responsible for getting the birds accustomed to all the things they would experience at the event.

“We would play different types of music for them to see how they responded to each type,” Evans explained. “We discovered that Cobbler liked bluegrass music and Gobbler liked classical.”

They also used a strobe light to get them accustomed to having their picture taken by the press and to make sure they wouldn’t be startled by it. The most important part was physically handling the birds every day.

“We would touch them, hold them, pull them to our body, just so they could get used to being lifted up, set on unfamiliar surfaces and wouldn’t get excited or flap their wings.”

Preparing for the Turkey Pardoning Ceremony

Before Thanksgiving Day 2012, Evans had settled on Cobbler and Gobbler to represent the flock at the official turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House.

They were transported to Washington in black Suburbans featuring the “Great Seal of the Turkey of the United States” and little flags. They had a police escort through town and were set up in rooms at the W Hotel. The turkeys actually had their own rooms and were monitored by the Secret Service.

“The Secret Service wanted to be able to see everything that was going into them and coming out of them for the president’s safety,” Evans said.

At one point, a guard told Evans that he needed to go into Cobbler and Gobbler’s room to help calm them down as they were anxious in their unfamiliar environment.

“I went in there and talked to them,” Evans said. “It took a while, but they calmed down after I let them eat some soda crackers out of my hand and hear the sound of my voice.”

What Happens to the Pardoned Turkey?

The official event consisted of a press conference the night before at the W Hotel with the pardoning ceremony taking place at the White House the next morning. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance, and Miller said it was an eye-opening experience for him.

“I had been to Washington twice before to visit the Smithsonian, but that night was the first time I was introduced to Washington elite,” Miller said. “It was a black-tie event and everyone was asking a lot of questions about turkeys. They were pretty interested because the birds were actually at the party strutting around.”

Due to Evans’s training, the turkeys were very well-behaved during the press conference and during the pardoning ceremony the next day, something that has not always been the case. They were docile and even gobbled on cue a couple of times, including once for the president.

During the press conference, Cobbler and Gobbler were introduced before being put to a public online vote for which one would receive the ceremonial presidential pardon. Cobbler won the vote and was pardoned during the ceremony the next morning.

Gobbler still won in his own way though, as he was pardoned off camera and joined Cobbler to live out his days at Mount Vernon.

An Honor for a Small-Town Family

In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley region, where the Miller farm is, everyone either knows someone or has a family member who is involved in poultry production. To be selected to raise the turkeys for a presidential pardon was a big honor for them in that town.

But for Miller, the part he remembers the most is President Obama mentioning “Miller Farm, Harrisonburg, Virginia,” by name during his speech at the ceremony.

The long-standing tradition is an experience both Miller and Evans will never forget. This is just a small piece of the overall experience they bring to Elanco now as veterinarians. So next time you see them - ask them about how they helped raised turkeys for the president.