Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys

 The Sweetgrass strain itself first appeared in 1996 in a flock of Heritage Bronze Turkeys in Big Timber, MT, at Sweetgrass Farms. Most people are now calling this color/pattern by this name .Most tri-colored turkeys in the US are a result of bronze and white crossings which were also carriers of Black winged bronze and Oregon gray genes, some lines also carry a single recessive red gene, this type is better known as "Calico", which is a much lighter color. The Sweetgrass genotype is (b1b1cgcg) Black winged bronze based with Oregon Gray aka Palm genes. They breed 100% true to color/pattern.

The original Sweetgrass birds are believed to be the cross between Wishard Bronze and Broadbreasted white turkeys. As the first tricolored birds didn't appear until the introduction of these whites to their bronze birds.

In Belgium, this color pattern has existed for hundreds of years and it is known as the Yellow-shouldered Ronquière. A clear example of one of these turkeys appears in an old painting, by the Flemish master Joachim Beuckelaars, from 1566!

 I developed my strain from the Sweetgrass Farms' line in Big Timber,MT. These birds have a heavily marked royal palm pattern with chestnut red. My new strain has a heritage turkey body style, they are not a broadbreasted type like the ones developed at Sweetgrass Farms. As with all the broadbreasted type birds you run into many other problems too like the need for artificial insemination and also health problems due to the massive body structure which leads to leg and heart problems .

I have selectively bred this line down to a much trimmer body type which can breed naturally and are also very hardy.

Mature toms weigh around 33 pounds and hens around 18 lbs.

     Poults are light yellow downed at hatch with a black strip extending down their backs

Poult Price $8.50 each (Limit 10 per order)

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