Turkey poults, just out of the incubator and cuddling with the thermometer. Read about our heritage breeds…Last year was a successful year raising turkeys; we found our birds to be good natured and curious. Everyone was grateful to them for gracing our Thanksgiving tables, and providing several delicious meals. Our turkeys are very well taken care of and have good lives at Katywil.
This year we are concentrating on breeding stock, perpetuating heirloom breeds many of which date back to the pre-Civil War era and are now in danger of disappearing. Here are pictures and a brief description of the three breeds we chose to hatch from eggs.
The Chocolate Turkey was common in the southern U.S. and probably originated in France. The Chocolate turkey, named for its brown-colored feathers, is a very rare breed. Chocolate turkeys thrived in France and the Southern U.S. in the early 1800s, but many breeders were lost during the Civil War, which led to a dwindling number of this variety today.
The Narragansett Turkey is named for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, where the variety was developed. It descends from a cross between native Eastern Wild turkeys and the domestic turkeys (probably Norfolk Blacks) brought to America by English and European colonists beginning in the 1600’s. Improved and standardized, the Narragansett became the foundation of the turkey industry in New England.
Blue Slate Turkeys are named for the blue slate color of their plumage. The breed is one of the most subtly beautiful of all standard turkeys. Blue Slate Turkeys have a fairly obscure origin and have never been very common, and their first mention in literature appears in the 1800’s. They were recognized as a standard breed by the American Poultry Association in 1874.