Are bronze turkeys good for eating?
Bronze turkeys typically have more flavor. While consumers generally go for a commercial white turkey for their Thanksgiving table, because the turkey wasn't given enough time to reach maturity, it can actually compromise the juiciness and flavor. According to Kelly, the older the bird, the better.
Is a Bronze turkey better than a white turkey?
Perhaps a little, with bronze birds having a slightly more 'gamey' flavour, but any difference is more pronounced in the brown meat. That's why we've introduced our full boneless bronze turkeys, as we think there's little point in having a bronze bird if you're only going to eat the breast meat.
Is a Bronze turkey a meat bird?
BROAD-BREASTED BRONZE TURKEY They are known for their excellent feed conversion and are very fast-growing, making them an excellent meat bird. The Broad-Breasted Bronze is one of the most popular commercial meat varieties, though their dark pin feathers make them a bit more difficult to dress than other breeds.
How much do bronze turkeys cost?
Standard Bronze TurkeysItem #Description1-5SBTSUnsexed1-5 $13.84
What is the tastiest turkey to buy?
Heritage turkey meat is tender and very flavorful, tasting more like a wild turkey than it's industrially-raised counterpart. For some, this natural flavor can come off as slightly gamey. Heritage turkeys are the most expensive type of turkey you can get.
What is the best type of turkey to buy?
Which Turkey to BuyDO: Look for a Natural or Organic frozen turkey, ideally one that was "pastured"—allowed to roam outside. ... DON'T: Buy a "basted," "self-basted" or "injected" turkey because those birds are usually factory-farmed and injected with additives to make them bigger.More items...•
Does a Bronze turkey taste different?
Bronze turkeys tend to be more traditionally reared and are usually free range. Like their Black cousins, they are famed for a distinctive gamey flavour and moist meat, but also have a firm texture.
When should you butcher a Bronze turkey?
Now you need to know: What is the best age to butcher your turkey? The best age to butcher a Broad Breasted Turkey is 16-20 weeks, for heritage breed turkeys it's 24-28 weeks.
Are bronze turkeys rare?
Status: RARE. Less than 300 breeding hens were found in the 1987 ALBC poultry survey, although there may be more if the exhibition turkeys are included.
Can bronze turkeys mate?
Naturally mating, long-lived, slow-growing strains of Bronze turkeys, known as the Standard Bronze, have been left even further behind by the turkey industry. A few tenacious breeders maintained small flocks, participating in poultry shows, and raising a few for family and friends.
Can bronze turkeys fly?
Able to fly and like to roost well off the ground, they are excellent foragers and like to range.
How long does it take for bronze turkeys to mature?
Morton's Norfolk bronze turkeys are grown over 25 weeks.
What is the difference between a bronze turkey and a normal turkey?
What is the difference between a Bronze Turkey and a White Turkey? The bronze turkey is the original and traditional turkey. They are distinctive by their black feathers. The Bronze turkey being an older breed, is naturally slower growing and the meat has an intense flavour.
What does a Bronze turkey taste like?
The Bronze turkey was bred out of the Norfolk Black and has a mellow succulent taste which really rattles the taste buds. It has a broad breast will give you plenty of succulent white breast meat.
What's the difference between brown and white turkey?
The main difference between white meat and dark meat is where on the bird the meat comes from. "The darker the meat, the more myoglobin it contains," says Willingham. "Myoglobin is the protein found in muscle tissue that carries oxygen. In turkeys and chickens, dark meat is sourced from the leg or thigh.
Is free range turkey better?
These turkeys may end up smaller than the traditional Thanksgiving bird, but it's going to taste much better even without gravy or extra seasoning. These cost significantly more money than conventional turkeys, but if you're looking for a more flavorful meal a free-range turkey might be worth the investment.
How much does a bronze turkey weigh?
Bronze turkeys weigh in at 16 pounds for a young hen and 25 pounds for a young tom. Older birds may weigh a few more pounds if they are kept around for a while.
When was the bronze turkey accepted into the American Poultry Association?
In 1874 , the Bronze Turkey was officially accepted into the American Poultry Association. In the past few years, a Broad Breasted Bronze has been bred, making a larger and more commercialized variety similar to the Broad Breasted White.
How much space do you need for a bronze turkey?
If you have space for your flock to free-range, the Bronze does very well with free-ranging due to their wild heritage. A half-acre for every dozen turkeys is adequate space to be fenced in for the flock.
What is the difference between a broad breasted white and a bronze?
If you’re looking for a good alternative to the Broad Breasted Bronze, the Broad Breasted White will be right up your alley. Broad Breasted Whites are a bit larger than the Bronzes and produce the largest amount of meat per bird.
What is the name of the turkey that crossed with Europe?
Upon arrival to America, the Eastern Wild turkeys were discovered and crossed with Europe’s domestic varieties, creating the Bronze turkeys. The hybrid between these two varieties created a well-balanced bird both suitable to free-ranging, but also large enough to be a nice meat producer. This new hybrid was well known in ...
What is heritage turkey?
Heritage breed turkeys can be very friendly and doglike animals that love their owners and follow them around the farm. On the other hand, they can also be rather protective of their territory, food, and babies. Temperament for this variety can vary based on breeder selection and the traits that breeders work for. 3.
Can you raise bronze turkeys on a flock raiser?
If you are raising Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys, they are only good for meat production and you’ll want to leave them on the flock raiser until it is time for processing. Standard Bronze turkeys being raised primarily for meat can also eat flock raiser until processing time.
What is a bronze turkey?
The Bronze turkey is called for its uncommon color, a shimmering green-bronze that seems metallic in the daylight.
Where did the bronze turkey originate?
The Bronze turkey originated from the cross between domestic turkeys brought by European colonists to America and the eastern species of North American wild turkeys. The beautiful coppery brown plumage was larger, easy to tame and better than wild turkeys and domestic ones. The brown dominated the commercial turkey meat industry then. The American Poultry Association recognized the Bronze variety in 1874.
What was the turkey in the 1900s?
During the 1900s, the broader breasted bronze turkey got introduced from England to the United States. These were crossed with larger and faster-growing American stock birds. This resulted in the Broad Breasted Bronze, which had more meat and fast growth. Commercial Turkey meat industries loved bronze variety for their performance abilities.
Why is the life span of a broad breasted bronze turkey shorter than that of a heritage turkey?
The life span is shorter for the Broad Breasted Bronze turkey compared to heritage turkey this is because of their large size and has a generally very poor reproduction rate.
How many eggs do bronze turkeys lay?
Broad Breasted Bronze turkey chickens laid approximately 60 eggs annually. Whereas the Standard Bronze turkey lay around 75 eggs per year. Approximately 85 percent of productive eggs and also around 75 percent of the abundant eggs hatched out.
Why are turkeys unable to mate?
But due to their vigorous growth and broad-breasted, they were unable to mate naturally. Artificial insemination was carried out to produce young ones. Beginning of the 1960s the Broad Breasted Bronze was replaced by the Broad Breasted White turkey (Large White).
How much does a bronze turkey weigh?
Bronze turkey is a heavyweight of the Turkey class. The conventional weight for young toms is 25 pounds as well as for young hens is 16 extra pounds. The average real-time bodyweight of the fully grown Bronze chickens is around 7.25 kg. And the mature tom’s ordinary real-time body weight is around 11.5 kg.
Bronze Turkey Origins
It is believed that the Bronze Turkey originates from a cross between wild US turkeys and those brought over in the 18th century by settlers from England. The cross was developed to produce a bird that was bigger than the English turkeys but easier to manage than wild ones.
Bronze Turkey Characteristics
The Bronze Turkey can grow to 4 feet tall and have a 6-foot wingspan. The Standard Bronze Turkey is considered a heritage breed and these, in turn, are very well domesticated. They can be friendly with humans and may even follow keepers around, like a pet dog.
Uses
The primary use of this breed is the same as with any breed of turkey: meat.
Are Bronze Turkeys Good for Small-Scale Farming?
Several factors make the Bronze Turkey a good choice for small-scale farming:
The Bronze Turkey
The Bronze Turkey was once the most popular of all domesticated turkey breeds in the US, having been bred to be easier to manage than wild turkeys but bigger than the English turkeys brought over with settlers.
What is the purpose of a broad breasted bronze turkey?
The only real purpose for the Broad Breasted Bronze is for meat. It is an incredibly fast-growing turkey, and this means that it needs to be slaughtered before it reaches adulthood. If it is not slaughtered by this point, then it will die from heart failure.
Who developed the bronze turkey?
The Bronze turkey was developed by early American settlers. However, where this actually happened isn’t recorded. In fact, we do not even know what domestic turkeys from England went into the breeding of the Bronze turkey. The standard Bronze turkey is considered as the ancestor to the Broad Breasted Bronze.
What is the ancestor of the broad breasted turkey?
The standard Bronze turkey is considered as the ancestor to the Broad Breasted Bronze.
What is the most popular turkey breed?
For a long while, the Broad Breasted Bronze Turkey was one of the most popular turkey breeds in the United States. While it no longer holds that honor, this is a breed that is still bred in droves, and it is probably one of the more recognizable of turkey breeds in the country.
What color feathers does a bronze breast have?
Nevertheless, both the Standard Bronze and the Broad Breasted Bronze have bronze-colored feathers (hence the name), although the feathers of the standard bronze are going to be ever so slightly lighter in their color.
How many types of turkeys are there?
There are Actually Two Types. This is where things get a little bit odd. The Bronze turkey is actually divided into two different types, but they both come from the same stock. You will see both of them referred to as the Bronze turkey: Standard Bronze. Broad Breasted Bronze.
Why do we not know the origins of the Bronze Turkey?
Part of the reason why we do not know the real origins of this turkey breed is down to the fact that it had several different names in the early history. Nobody even called it the Bronze turkey until the mid-19th century. As a result, it is incredibly difficult to track down the history of the bird.
What is a bronze turkey?
The Standard Bronze Turkey has a copper or bronze colored metallic sheen. This Heritage turkey breed originated from crossing domestic turkeys brought to the Americas by European colonists with eastern wild turkeys. The Bronze turkey has been one of the most popular turkey varieties for most of American history, and was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1874.
Where did the Bronze Turkey originate?
This Heritage turkey breed originated from crossing domestic turkeys brought to the Americas by European colonists with eastern wild turkeys. The Bronze turkey has been one of the most popular turkey varieties for most of American history, and was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1874. Babies are tan and dark brown ...
How long does it take for a Heritage turkey to mature?
Heritage breed turkeys can take about 9 months to reach their mature weight.
When do Heritage turkeys lay?
Heritage breed turkeys start laying around 35 weeks of age, usually in the Spring.
Can you combine chicks and turkeys?
No, sorry chicks and turkeys have their own minimums and cannot be combined. They will ship separately. The minimum order for turkeys is 15 birds.
Can you free a turkey?
Yes, the Standard Bronze turkey would be good for free ranging. But, turkeys contain a limited system for digesting grass and plants. Be sure to keep grain feed available because of their limited digestion.
Can turkeys fly?
All turkeys can fly. However, due to their size, they typically do not fly unless scared or startled.
