FEATURES
Birds of a Different Feather

by Marcia Passos Duffy
Heritage turkeys gaining popularity

Photo by Lin Ennis A Bourbon Red.

Jane Connolly, who runs Turkeys Run the Roost farm in Newbury, Vt., with her husband, is raising a different kind of bird for her customers’ Thanksgiving tables. She’s raising heritage turkeys, which, unlike their factory-bred and raised cousins, roam freely outside, eat insects and are able to mate and lay eggs, as well as try their wings at flying over fences. While heritage turkeys are leaner and wilier than conventional turkeys—and take more time and labor to raise—they are quickly becoming a hot commodity among consumers who care about preserving these breeds and eating what they consider a “real” turkey.

According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (www.albc-usa.org), the trend of heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables have increased from 1,000 sold in 2002 to an estimated 25,000 that will be sold to consumers by the end of 2008. Still a drop in the bucket when you consider that, according to USDA statistics, almost 300 million turkeys are sold annually in the United States.

With the surge in “eat local” and “slow food” movements, heritage turkeys have the potential to become a growing and lucrative niche market with eager customers willing to pay top dollar—as much as $7 a pound—for them.

Real turkeys

The difference between heritage turkeys and the Butterball turkey lies in genetics. Most Americans purchase a broad-breasted white variety of turkey for the holidays, which is essentially a human-engineered breed. These enormous turkeys have been selectively bred to be quick-growing and meat-heavy with oversized breasts that can easily be cleaned and processed. While this turkey is considered “perfect” for mass production, it hasn’t been perfect for the breed. Males can no longer mate and females must be artificially inseminated, some birds can’t walk because of their large breasts and often have leg and heart problems, and most never see the light of day, confined indoors their entire lives. Meanwhile, the original strains of turkeys—which do not grow as large as the broad-breasted whites—have almost disappeared, until recently, when farmers began to breed these varieties for a niche market eager to eat heritage foods.

Heritage breeds of turkeys—the Narragansett, Bourbon Reds, Jersey Buffs and Standard Bronze turkeys—may be small in size, but are big in taste, which has contributed to their growing popularity.

“These turkeys have a richer turkey flavor and smell … and they taste wonderful,” said Marjie Bender, research and technical program director for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy based in Pittsboro, N.C., a nonprofit working to save 100 livestock breeds from extinction. The taste is what is fetching farmers who raise heritage turkeys $4.50 to $5 a pound in recent years, she said. This year, farmers are asking $6.50 to $7 per pound to make up for the increase in fuel and feed prices, said Bender. And, they’ll get their asking price.

Heritage turkeys cost more to raise

While those retail figures are attractive, heritage turkeys cost more to bring to market, said Patrick Martins, co-founder of Heritage Foods USA (www.heritagefoodsusa.com), the sales and marketing arm of Slow Food USA, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating regional cuisine and products. The organization’s Heritage Turkey Project helped double the population of heritage turkeys in the U.S. It has since upgraded the Bourbon Red turkey from “rare” to “watch” status on the conservation list.

Photo by Jane Connolly.

Bourbon Reds at Turkeys Run the Roost Farm in Newbury, Vt.

“Heritage turkeys are hard to grow and take a long time to reach market weight,” said Martins. Today’s heritage turkeys reach a marketable weight in 26 to 28 weeks, as opposed to the 14 to 16 weeks for a broad-breasted white.

Connolly, who raises over 60 heritage turkeys a year—and plans to raise 100 next year—said that she pays $6 to $10.50 for each day-old heritage bird (she buys the Royal Palm, Blue Slate and Narragansett varieties). She said it costs her $40 per bird to raise to harvest. Her net profit last year was about $40 per turkey. “We’re breaking even because processing is a big expense,” she said, adding that she is looking into other options to process the turkeys, and into the regulations to getting USDA-inspected to sell across the border to New Hampshire.

Connolly is also looking to find easier markets to sell the turkeys, such as restaurants.

Day-olds hard to find

If more farmers don’t go into the heritage turkey hatchery business, any spikes in consumer demand may not be met. “Most farmers want grow outs, they don’t want to manage a breeder flock,” said Bender. In the Northeast, in particular, there are very few locations where farmers can get heritage day-olds. “There is a huge demand for farmers willing to make a commitment to maintain the quality of flocks … the biggest breeder is in Kansas and he’s breeding for his own farm,” said Bender.

Still, the number of breeding heritage turkeys has gone up, but not really enough to satisfy consumer appetites. Bender noted that in 1997 there were only 1,337 breeding heritage turkey birds. That number has skyrocketed to 10,404 breeding birds in 2006, but more breeding populations are needed to meet the increasing demand.

Barbara and David Stewart, owners of McClary Hill Farm in Epsom, N.H., www.mcclaryhillfarm.com, never had trouble getting day-old heritage turkeys in the past, but this year the day-olds were sold out everywhere by the time they got to order them. “Last year, we sold Narragansett and Broad-Breasted Bronze (heritage turkeys) for $4 a pound and quickly realized it was an idiotic price,” said Barbara. “People were calling and begging us for a turkey, wanting to have it all: heritage breed, organically fed, pasture-raised … they would have paid a lot more for it,” she said.

Like the Connollys, the Stewarts did not make a huge profit on the turkeys last year. This year they are raising conventional broad-breasted whites, the only day-olds they could buy. “We’re doing an experiment and raising them like we raised the heritage turkeys … we’ll see if they taste the same,” he said.

Bender said that if the farmer is right outside an urban area where people have expendable income, it can be a profitable venture. “If you’re in a distant rural area where you have to sell wholesale or

requires shipping costs, it is much iffier,” said Bender. “Remember, the heritage turkey niche is still in the growing phase.”

Tips for starting a heritage turkey business

If you want to try raising a flock of heritage turkeys, here are some tips:

1. Find your customer. Make sure you are close to the ideal customer, one with disposable income who is willing to pay the higher price for a heritage turkey. “Get a deposit and make sure you have your orders lined up early … when the poults are a couple months old,” suggested David.
   
2. Decide how it will be sold. You need to decide if you will sell fresh or frozen; on the farm, through a co-op or farmers’ market, or online.
   
3. Find a processor. If you’re selling limited quantities right off the farm you may be able to process the turkeys yourself. Selling to restaurants and grocery stores requires state inspection, at the very least. Across state lines means USDA inspection. Unfortunately, there are not many processing plants around anymore, but the location and price of processing can determine your success in this endeavor. “Lock in the processing date well in advance,” suggests the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
   
4. Find a feed source. Price it out, see if it is affordable and right for the heritage turkeys. Heritage turkeys require a higher-protein diet than conventional turkeys—28 percent protein in addition to daily access to quality forage.
   
5. Go with a reputable hatchery and order early. Day-olds can be purchased by some hatcheries through the mail. (Note that some may die along the way, warned Connolly).
   
6. Take it slow and start small. Start with 20 poults in the first year, and grow from there if successful.
   
7. Allow a minimum of six months to harvest. If you want heritage turkeys in time for Thanksgiving you need to get poults by April or May. Remember that heritage turkey toms will be about 18 to 20 pounds live weight; hens will reach 12 to 14 pounds (dressed weight is about 75 percent of live weight).
   
8. Keep them away from chickens. Heritage turkeys are susceptible to blackhead, a serious disease that can be transmitted by chickens.
   
9. Keep them safe from predators. Some farmers create movable coops to protect them from predators, which can include coyotes, raccoons, bears, skunks and dogs. Other farmers build strong fences and bring the turkeys in at night. Remember, they do fly and like to forage and roost. “They are more curious and active birds [than conventional turkeys],” said Bender. One good option for protection is looking into guardian animals, such as herding dogs, donkeys or llamas.
   
10. Educate customers about heritage turkeys. The turkey will not look like a store-bought turkey, and they may be surprised. There is a longer leg and keel, and it will be smaller. Be proactive and helpful with recipes and tips for cooking. Heritage turkeys require a slower oven and basting is necessary to keep the moisture in. Prepare your customers for discrepancies in the turkeys you raise and what people ordered; heritage turkeys don’t all grow at a uniform rate and can have wide range of weight at harvest.

For a free downloadable book, “How to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture,” visit www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html.

The author is a freelance writer from Keene, N.H.

SIDEBAR 1

Turkey Critical List 2008

Reprinted with permission from “How to Raise Poultry” by Christine Heinrichs.

All turkeys are the same breed, so this list identifies varieties that have historic value and/or are rare. All traditional turkeys are rare. Bourbon Red, Bronze and Royal Palm are the best represented of the group. Turkeys have received breeding attention from commercial interests, which have developed new varieties, such as Beltsville and Oregon Gray. Other varieties have been the result of small flock breeders, such as Apricot, Chestnut Blue,Harvest Gold and Sweetgrass. They are rare, but not old, having been developed in the last century.

Grizzled and Spotted turkeys have long histories and are old. The name Nebraska was added in the 20th century. Grizzled turkeys are sometimes called Royal Nebraskas and Spotted turkeys are sometimes called Nebraska Royals. Go figure.