BLACKSBURG, Va. – Two turkeys that President Trump pardoned Tuesday are now at Virginia Tech’s Gobblers Rest, where they’ll live out the rest of their days.
"They’re 20 weeks old, so qualify as teenagers," Virginia Tech professor Rami Dalloul said.
The turkeys, named Peas and Carrots, have a new lease on life thanks to a presidential pardon. This is the third year in a row that the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its wingman are making their home at Virginia Tech.
They'll get round-the-clock care, surrounded by experts in the university's poultry program.
"The national turkeys, I mean, it's awesome," 10-year-old Donovan Barlow said.
It’s an honor not just for the turkeys that were spared this Thanksgiving, but for all Hokies.
"It’s cool because the president runs the whole United States and I get to just be here and see the turkeys that he pardoned and that's cool," Barlow said.
With the fear of being part of a feast behind them, now Peas and Carrots are preparing for the future.
"First, they're going to get free college education and they will live in their dorms… Except they're exempt from classes. They don't have to go to classes," Dalloul said.
Every year, thousands of people come to see the local celebrities in their new home. The public is invited to an open house to meet the turkeys on Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Livestock Judging Pavilion: 445 Plantation Road, Blacksburg.