Turkeys

Turkeys are raised primarily for meat production. Turkeys are highly social birds and easily become distressed when they are alone. Heritage breed turkeys have a higher ability to free range and provide themselves with a higher portion of their food requirements minimizing food costs. Heritage breed turkeys also have a higher ability to breed naturally without any assistance.

Duckopolis has the following breeds of turkeys available:

Bourbon Red

Bourbon Reds are named for their reddish plumage and Bourbon County, Kentucky. The males should weigh around 33 pounds at maturity while the hens around 18 pounds. They should reach 23 pounds for the toms and 14 pounds for the hens by 28 weeks of age when they would typically be slaughtered. They originated in Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the late 1800’s from crossing Buff, Standard Bronze, and Midget Whites. They were recognized by the APA in 1909.

Chocolate

Chocolate turkeys were common in the south US and France before the Civil War caused a great decline in turkey breeding. The history behind them is not really known, however after the war large numbers had been lost and they were reduced to 12 breeding birds. Due to the lack of numbers a lot of breeding birds today can carry Bronze, Narragansett, or Bourbon Red genes. They are about the same size as Bourbon Reds.

Royal Palm

Royal palms are small sized turkeys with striking colours. The palm pattern in mixed flocks in Florida in the 1920’s. They were accepted by the APA in 1971. When mature males will weigh 22-25 pounds, and females will weigh 12-14 pounds. They are one of the only varieties of turkeys that was never selected for meat production traits and are primarily raised for exhibition.