Heritage Turkeys

Up until the 1920s all turkeys produced in the United States were heritage turkeys. Many breeders began selectively breeding for a much bigger faster growing bird. The result of this was the Broad Breasted Bronze Turkey. This turkey was able to grow in half the time that it took the unimproved (heritage) turkeys to grow. In the 1950s turkey breeders began breeding for a turkey that had white feathers and would grow in confinement well. In the 1960s they had created the Giant White turkey. The Giant White grows so fast that its own legs cannot support them. Their natural instincts such as the ability to forage, run and fly have been bred out of them. They also have a low disease resistance, and are many times fed antibiotics to keep them from getting sick and to increase feed efficiency. When these birds are processed many of them are injected with a solution of butter water and seasonings to increase the flavor and plumpness of the bird.

Heritage turkeys are described has having much more dark meat than store bought turkeys, this comes from being raised on pasture where they get plenty of exercise and sunlight. Heritage Turkeys are excellent grazers and do very well on pasture. Many people that eat heritage turkeys say that the meat has a superior taste; this comes from eating grass and insects. Heritage Turkey meat is naturally moist and tastes like turkey is supposed to taste.

In order for a turkey to be a heritage turkey it needs to have three important traits.
These traits are:
Slow growth rate. While Giant White turkeys can finish growing in 13-15 weeks it takes Heritage turkeys 28-30 weeks to reach market weight. Most who have tried heritage turkey say the wait is well worth it.
Long lifespan. Heritage turkeys can be expected to live 5-7 years. Because of their slow growth rate keeps them from developing leg problems that are common with the commercially bred Giant White turkeys
Natural reproduction. Heritage turkeys can reproduce naturally, but the Giant White turkeys usually require artificial insemination to reproduce.


This year we will be raising three different breeds of Heritage Turkeys for sale for the 2009 winter holiday season. The breeds we will raise are the Unimproved Bronze, Midget White and Bourbon Reds. We will raise these turkeys on grass their whole lives with some limited protein feed. Our turkeys will not be given any antibiotics or hormones.