Heritage Turkey Breeds: Which One is Right for You?

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It’s the time of year when people are thinking “turkey.” So, this is a good time to compare six heritage breeds of turkeys that we raise. We have been raising heritage turkeys for quite a few years now. It started with a pair of Midget Whites; our most recent addition is the Standard Bronze. At any time, we have approximately 100 turkeys on the farm.

We raise Midget White, Beltsville Small White, White Holland, Royal Palm, Bourbon Red and Standard Bronze turkeys. We originally planned to raise a small flock of turkeys for meat, but we liked them so much that one breed was not enough. The more we researched, the more we wanted to help preserve some of the rare breeds. Here’s a brief history of the breeds that we raise, listed by size small to large.

Midget White

In the 1960s, J. R. Smyth Jr., who holds a doctorate in poultry genetics and served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass., developed the Midget White as a small meat turkey. Unfortunately, they never really caught on and the flock was dispersed. (Read A History of the Midget White Turkey.) The Midget White and the Beltsville Small White were the only 2 breeds specifically bred for the modern poultry market; the others are much older breeds and were developed on a more local or geographic level. The Midget White was never accepted into the American Poultry Association (APA).

Mature toms (males) weigh 16 to 20 pound; hens, 8 to 12 pounds. The Midgets are easily the favorite at our table because they taste great, and we rank them No. 1. This breed also received the most votes at the second annual “Timeless Turkey” taste test of nine heritage breeds at Ayrshire Farm.

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