Buy Black Spanish Turkeys

Buy Black Spanish Turkeys

Buy Black Spanish Turkeys is considered a rare breed of turkey, a heritage turkey and admitted into the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. This breed can be traced back to when explorers in the 1500’s carried this Mexican turkey to Europe and then later carried it back to the Americas. They are also one of the naturally reproducing breeds of turkeys.

Note: As poults they will have lighter feathering but will change to a iridescent solid black at around 8-9 months.

About

Looking for a rare, endangered Turkey? Check out the Black Spanish, Black Turkey or Black Nofolk. This is a wonderful turkey that has all the traits you could ask for – calm, social, superior flavor and eye candy here on our farm. This is the most hardy of all the heritage turkey breeds.

The coloring of the Black Spanish Turkey is absolutelys gorgeous. It is a lustrous, metallic black with a greenish sheen on top and a dull black under color. The poults and teenagers will often have white or bronze in their feathers as they grow and develop but molt into the black color above. Since, however, the Black has not been selected for production attributes for years, many birds may be smaller than the breed standard. In our breeding program we work on weights of out turkeys. While generally known as the Black turkey, the terms “Norfolk Black” and “Black Spanish” are also used in the United States when referring to this variety, all these terms refer to the same Black variety.

Buy Black Spanish Turkeys

For meat production – these are great for any situation like all heritage turkeys they can naturally reproduce and you can basically have a self-sustaining flock. Harvesting expect longer grow rates for Heritage Turkeys. The flavor of a naturally grown turkey is amazing and very sought after so the market is great. A note is when harvesting since the feathers are black, you will have ink spots on the meat – this is not in any way change the taste or health of the turkey. This is the ink from their  dark pin feathers and education to consumers will help explain.

Egg consumption – heritage turkeys are not big egg layers, they can lay up to 60-80 eggs a year and seasonally (Spring to Summer). Eggs can be used in a normal fashion but pastry chefs rave about their use in more dense deserts like Crème Brule (not so much in lighter deserts like angel food cake), they are also very good when used for egg noodle production.

Here at the farm we are really amazed at how hardy this breed is. In Vermont our winters are very rough and summers can be hot. This turkey can handle all of those extremes, roosting at the highest point on our barn in high winds and freezing weather. We actually have to make them come indoors. In our observation our stock and breed has been so far very hardy and healthy. All poults are born strong and healthy with very little health concerns. Heritage turkeys prefer to be free ranged and roost as high up as possible.  They don’t bare confinement well due to their large size and nature. Remember these turkeys can fly. The Hens tend to wander and Toms stay close to the food! They are alert and gaggle whenever they sense danger or anyone coming to the farm.

Raising and the Why?  We consider Buy Black Spanish Turkeys, an intermediate bird to raise. The poults do require a little more special attention and the teenagers are a bit naughty! Once adults they are easier. Sugar Feather Farm is here for you after your purchase to help with any questions or concerns. Turkeys are seasonal layers and only lay in the spring and summer months and sometimes into the fall. All our turkeys are Non-GMO!

Feed Recommendations: turkeys are considered a gamebird and need higher protein when developing. We recommend Sugar Feather Farm gamebird starter,  when they are poults, Sugar Feather Farm gamebird grower when they are growing, and when the hit maturation you can switch to our adult feed. If you are raising strictly for meat production and pasture a different feed regimen will apply. You can reach out for recommendations on that program.