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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 20, 2004 Heritage turkeys are a rare breed By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings The turkeys may fly over the fence to saunter along Dead Indian Memorial Road. There are moments when the whole flock chugs toward the barn on matchstick legs to hide from a flying shadow. The fowl aren't too partial to strangers, and inside the fenced pasture at Falling Feathers Farm, the turkeys have a tendency to attack. Right: Lance and Pam Vavra, owners of Falling Feathers Farm on Dead Indian Memorial Road, feed some of their 60-something turkeys. "It's terrible to try to do any work out here," breeder Pam Vavra said, standing in the middle of the muddy barnyard. The turkeys like to peck her and her husband, Lance, when the couple comes out to mend a fence or refill the feed barrels. But Vavras couldn't be happier with the way their turkey farm has turned out. In their second year raising the traditional heritage turkeys, the Vavra flock will produce more than 40 turkeys for holiday dinners across the Western states. In 2003, about 10 Narragansett turkeys, one of the breeds considered "heritage," lived at Falling Feathers. "When we started hatching the eggs, we were just thinking a few for ourselves, so we got a slow start," Lance said, explaining they will keep three to five males and about 30 hens for breeding in the spring. "Next year, I'm hoping to raise about 100." Heritage turkeys encompass breeds that were hunted by colonial settlers and, until about 50 years ago, remained the turkey standard in the U.S. and around the world. Beginning in the 1960s, the mass production of engineered Broad-Breasted White industrial turkeys - the 20-plus pounder most families tie into at Thanksgiving dinner - has nearly destroyed the heritage turkey lineage. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, the Rare Heritage Turkey Association and the Slow Food USA recognize four breeds as endangered - the Narragansett, the Bourbon Red, the Jersey Bluff and the Standard Bronze - and support the 300 small-scale breeders, like the Vavras, who keep the breeds from extinction. "The-bigger-the-better is kind of the idea for turkeys in most people's minds," Pam said. The free-range turkeys at Falling Feathers will top out between 10 and 12 pounds, a far cry from burly Broad-Breasted Whites that have a tough time walking because their breasts weigh so much. Because heritage turkeys have less fat - the Vavras joke that their birds are "basically on the Atkins diet," eating organic corn mash, spent brewery grain from Caldera Brewery, worms, bugs and the occasional handful of bread crumbs - and tend to be smaller, they are cooked differently than Broad Breasted Whites. "Instead of cooking them for a long time on low heat, you cook them for a short time on high heat," Pam explained. "That means you can't stuff them." But the difference coming out of the oven is dramatic. "They sure do taste better," Pam said. Cooked heritage turkeys are often likened to the 1943 Thanksgiving painting by Norman Rockwell - a bronzed, roasted turkey with long legs. "They're a lot heartier bird," Lance said. The turkeys at Falling Feathers take between six and eight months to mature, compared to three months growth cycle of conventional turkeys. Heritage turkeys also carry a bigger price tag. Most of the Vavra's fowl will sell for about $40 a bird, or $4 a pound. On the East Coast, heritage turkeys net up to $6 a pound. The 30-slot list for Thanksgiving turkeys has been filled for some time, although there is a waiting list. Only a half-dozen turkeys have been reserved for the holidays and the Vavras have room for more orders. Falling Feathers Farm can be contacted at [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams