About the Heritage breed turkeys and chickens we sell
Bourbon Red
Bourbon Slate
Bourbon Red
According to the Livestock Conservancy:
The Bourbon Red turkey is named for Bourbon County in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region where it originated in the late 1800’s. It was developed by J. F. Barbee from crosses between Buff, Bronze, and White Holland turkeys though the initial steps actually took place in Pennsylvania, where Buff turkeys of darker red hues – called Tuscarora or Tuscawara – were bred and then taken west with settlers bound for Ohio and Kentucky. These dark Buff turkeys would be the primary foundation for the new variety.
After some years of selection, Mr. Barbee was able to produce consistently good-sized dark red turkeys with white wing and main tail feathers. He christened these “Bourbon Butternuts.” For some reason, perhaps because the name did not appeal to the public, the birds did not attract attention. Barbee rechristened them “Bourbon Reds,” Bourbon for his home county and red for the rich, chestnut color of the plumage. The name change seemed to work, and better sales were reported.
Royal Palm
Bourbon Slate
Bourbon Red
According to the Livestock Conservancy:
The Royal Palm is a strikingly attractive and small-sized turkey variety. The first birds in America to have the Palm color pattern appeared in a mixed flock of Black, Bronze, Narragansett, and Wild turkeys on the farm of Enoch Carson of Lake Worth, Florida in the 1920s. Further selection has been made since then to stabilize the consistency of color and other characteristics. As an anonymous breeder wrote to Feathered World magazine in 1931, “Turkeys of this type of coloration do crop up by chance where different color varieties are crossed . . . but it takes years to perfect their markings.” The Royal Palm was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1971. It is similar to a European variety called the Pied, Crollwitz, or Black-laced White, which has been known since the 1700's.
Bourbon Slate
Bourbon Slate
Bourbon Slate
While Bourbon Slate is not an accredited breed we think you will find them as beautiful as we do. They come from breeding Blue Slate with Bourbon Red turkeys and their colors vary from chocolate to blue to red and all hues in between. They are relative size to the Bourbon Red or Slate.
Faverolles
Rhode Island Red
Rhode Island Red
The Faverolle chicken breed comes from the village of Faverolles, located just southwest of Paris, France.
The breed was developed by crossing many other chicken breeds and then selecting for production qualities alone.
Faverolle chickens come in several color varieties, but in America the Salmon is most popular. We also have Faverolles in Mahogany.
Salmon is a unique color pattern found exclusively on the Faverolle chicken. The males appear as a much lighter colored Golden Duckwing compared to males of other breeds. The females appear as a much more lightly colored Wheaten than females of other breeds.
Faverolle chickens are medium-sized, with deep compact bodies, feathered shanks and toes, and beards. With their “fluffy” appearance, it is easy to overlook the fact that this breed was developed with meat production and winter egg laying with the great Paris market in mind. Faverolle chickens combine early maturity, hardiness, and great egg-laying with fine flesh qualities.
Males weigh 8 lbs and Females weigh 6.5 lbs. Hens are expected to lay approximately 150-180 eggs per year.
Rhode Island Red
Rhode Island Red
Rhode Island Red
The Rhode Island Red is America's best known breed and remains an excellent farm chicken. Originally developed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the 1880's and 1890's, its distinctive color and good production qualities helped it to spread rapidly.
The single combed variety was admitted to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1904 and the rose combed birds were accepted a year later in 1905.
The originators of the Rhode Island Red wanted to create a bird that could lay a good number of eggs yet dress out nicely as a table bird. These birds are very good layers of brown eggs, perhaps the best layers of all of the dual-purpose breeds. They can lay 200 – 300 eggs a year starting as early as six months of age.
Buff Orpington
Rhode Island Red
Buff Orpington
Buff Orpington come from the Kentish town of Orpington, in England in the 1880's.The qualities that won all the Orpington chicken varieties recognition were fast rate of growth, excellent egg production, and excellent table-quality. Historically, Orpington chickens made excellent broilers weighing 2 to 2.5 lbs at 8-10 weeks of age, excellent roasting chickens at 5 months of age, and excellent old fowl for the table as well. They are first-rate layers of large light to dark brown eggs.Egg production is approx. 200 eggs per year.