Heritage Turkeys:
Prized for their rich flavor and beautiful plumage, Heritage Turkeys are the ancestors of the common Broad-breasted White industrial breed of turkey that comprises 99.99% of the supermarket turkeys sold today. But the Heritage Breeds still exist and are making a comeback. Most breeds of heritage turkey were developed in the United States and Europe over hundreds of years, and were identified in the American Poultry Association's turkey Standard of Perfection of 1874. These breeds include the Standard Bronze, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Jersey Buff, Slate, Black Spanish, and White Holland.
American Bronze Turkey:
Historically, the American Bronze Turkey has been the most popular turkey variety in the US. Its exact origin is obscure though it does include a cross between the eastern species of North American wild turkey and the domestic turkeys brought by colonists from Europe.
The Bronze variety is stately in appearance. Bronze turkeys stand four feet tall, with a fifteen to eighteen inch tail and a six foot wing span. The color is copper bronze, with a background of brown and black, and white bars on the tail. The Bronze has straight, strong legs set well apart. Its back is broad, sloping from the neck and flat between the wings. The wings are carried well up on the sides, the tail is long with broad feathers and the head is long, deep, and broad with prominent eyes. Both toms and hens have a large wattle pendant and gracefully curved necks. Toms weigh up to 36 pounds and hens up to twenty pounds.
The Broad-breasted Bronze was replaced by the Large White (or Broad-breasted White) turkey beginning in the 1960s. Processors favored the white feathered variety because it produced a cleaner-looking carcass. Today, the Broad-breasted Bronze is no longer used by the turkey industry, but it is promoted for seasonal, small-scale production.
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Red Bourbon
The Bourbon Red turkey, also known as the Bourbon Butternut or Kentucky Red, was named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, in the Bluegrass Region, where it originated. This variety was developed from the Buff, an historic variety of turkey known in the Mid-Atlantic States. It resulted from stocks taken to Kentucky and selected for improved meat production and a darker red color. The American Poultry Association recognized the Bourbon Red variety in 1909, and it was ambitiously promoted. The Bourbon Red’s supporters emphasized its production-oriented conformation, including a heavy breast and richly flavored meat. The breed was more profitable than the Buff, which soon fell into decline.
Bourbon Red turkeys are handsome in appearance. They have brownish to dark red plumage with white in the flight and tail feathers. The tail has soft red bars crossing the main feathers near the end. Body feathers on the toms may be edged in black. The neck and breast feathers are chestnut mahogany, and the undercolor feathers are light buff to almost white. The beak is light horn at the tip and dark at base. The throat wattle is red, changeable to bluish white, and the beard is black. The standard weights are 33 pounds for toms and 18 pounds for hens.