( CNN ) -- Two White House-bound turkeys can thank good looks and personality for saving their lives . The 45-pound birds endured months of rigorous training and rose to the head of a class of 20,000 feathered friends vying for a pardon from the dreaded Thanksgiving Day buffet . President Obama on Wednesday continued a tradition of sparing turkeys from the chopping block , as each of his predecessors since George H.W . Bush has done . The National Turkey Federation has presented a bird to the president for more than 60 years , but the early honorees often became dinner . `` It feels pretty good to stop at least one shellacking this November , '' the president joked . Apple is the official National Thanksgiving Turkey and Cider is the alternate . The NTF brings two birds each year in case a backup is needed . Both get pardoned , but only one gets to be the official turkey . The names were chosen from hundreds of submissions from students who participated in California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom , a program where they learned about how the turkey was raised . This year 's winners are Nicholas Strain turkeys , a breed that originated in California 's Sonoma Valley . While the birds are a bit larger than a typical tom , they 've been living off a typical diet of corn and soy beans . The annual turkey ( and his alternate ) will now be living a life of luxury , but moving to the front of the flock was hard work . Twenty-five birds from a hatch of 20,000 born the week of July 10 were relocated to a small ranch outside of Modesto , California , said Yubert Envia , vice president of turkey and prepared foods for Foster Farms and this year 's chairman of the NTF . Since six weeks of age , those birds have been in training , getting used to being handled and in the spotlight . They listened to music , ranging from country to rock , to get acclimated to a variety of sounds . The turkeys toured eight schools along the West Coast before the pack was narrowed further . Then , last Friday , the remaining birds competed in a high-stakes beauty contest . `` We had the birds walk around to make sure they had a good strut on them and they were walking well . We were looking for nice white plumage on them , good feathering and a nice fanning tail , '' Envia said . The finalists were selected and separated for a final round of handling and two standouts were dubbed the winners . The turkeys had two days to prepare before boarding a plane for the East Coast . ( And yes , they did get their own version of a pat down ) . `` The birds made it great . No broken feathers or anything like that . That was a great trip for them , '' Envia said . Before the White House ceremony , the birds spent time getting used to the nation 's capital and relaxing at the W Hotel . After the official pardon , the birds will travel to Mount Vernon , where they will live out the rest of their lives . `` It was George Washington that declared a day of thanks ... so what better place to retire than the home of the first president of the United States ? '' Envia said . `` We 're pretty excited about Mount Vernon , and I think the birds are really going to enjoy themselves over there . ''
President Obama pardoned official Thanksgiving turkey . Turkeys listened to music , visited schools in preparation for national debut . Two winning turkeys flew from California to D.C. and got their version of a pat down . Turkeys will live out their lives on Mount Vernon .