We added a couple of Bourbon Red turkeys to our farm this winter – and as with everything else we needed to do a bit of research to find out what we were getting into. The terminology of animals is so interesting – turkeys in the wild live in a “Flock” or a “Rafter”. The composition of their “Rafter” varies but is usually hens and juvenile males. A male turkey adult is typically solitary and join a rafter after the breeding season. Turkeys have been known to reproduce asexually – parathenogenesis can occur in other types of animals such as sharks as well. Female turkeys have been known to produce living offspring without fathers.
Male turkeys are called turkey, tom, or gobblers. Females are Hens.
Bourbon Red turkeys originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky in the late 1800’s- and has also been referred to as a Kentucky Red or a Bourbon Butternut.
They were created by crossing Buff, White Holland and a standard bronze turkey. It was first recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1909, and as of 2024 is considered a “Heritage Breed” though it is still on the “watch” list for livestock conservancy.
What we’ve found from our life with turkeys –
They act like golden retrievers and follow us everywhere! Mostly docile, but a little “peckish” when he wants to be. The two we rehomed were both Tom’s and with the spring came a bit of fighting and dragging each other by their snoods. So we separated one to a neighboring farm with Anna, our weekend farm helper – his name became “Chip” and “Tom” Turkey stays with us.
Their crazy colored head turns from red to blue to white. With the feathers sticking out they look like an alien sometimes, and their snood grows really long and gets really red, or it can retract to look like a unicorn horn and go completely white. The turkey also controls coloring of the caruncles (the caruncles are the globby looking things on the turkey neck, random fact, the word originates from the latin word for Wart) with blood flow, they go from white to deep red as well!
Turkey anatomy words: Caruncle (back of the head), Snood (unicorn horn/dangle depending on the mood), Wattle, Major Caruncle (neck), Beard (between front breast feathers)
Since all of our animals need a friend of their own kind, ideally, we located some turkey hatching eggs in April 2024 and currently have them in the incubator. After a slow start, we do believe we see some development (we are about 12 days in) and are anxiously awaiting our successful hatch and turkey babies!
Bourbon Red Turkey Fun Facts:
- Bourbon Reds are a Heritage Breed – meaning they are a breed of domesticated turkey that shows characteristics associated with the species that often are absent in commercially produced breeds and are able to naturally mate in pairs producing offspring. They have a fertility rate of 70-80%
- Heritage Toms reach (harvesting) maturity at 28 weeks old – Heritage birds are slower growing – males as adults can reach approx 25 lbs and hens 16 lbs
- Bourbom Reds are often a dual purpose breed, suitable for meat and egg production
- Turkey offspring are referred to as Poults or chicks – these chicks need a high protein diet including commercial feed, grains, legumes and insects
- Turkeys live in the wild in flocks or rafters – domestically we tend to add them to our “flocks”
- Bourbon Turkeys are docile and friendly – we refer to ours as the “golden retriever” bird on our farm
- Turkeys are seasonal egg layers, they only lay eggs during the spring and early summer
- Bourbon Red Turkeys are on the watch list for the livestock conservancy and their population is increasing, but still rare
- Bourbon Red turkeys have a distinctive “gobble”, they can also make a drumming sound by vibrating their feathers
- Turkeys are an awesome addition to a back yard flock!
