Turkey breeds are reported to the DAD-IS breed database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations by more than sixty countries. [1] The breeds reported include commercial/industrial strains, local types and recognised breeds in many countries.
Twenty breeds are reported to DAD-IS by the United States. [2] Eight of them are recognised by the American Poultry Association in its breed standard, the American Standard of Perfection , where however they are classified as "varieties" rather than as breeds.[ citation needed ] This may be because the original genotype for domestic turkeys was for Bronze, and all other color varieties are due to mutations from it.[ citation needed ]
Variety | Year admitted by APA [3] | Type | Comments | images |
---|---|---|---|---|
Beltsville Small White | 1951 | heritage turkey | Created by the USDA at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville Maryland, Once very popular, it is now rare. [4] | |
Black turkey | 1874 | heritage turkey | Alternatively called Spanish Black or Norfolk Black or American Black. | |
Bourbon Red | 1909 | heritage turkey | ||
Bronze | 1874 | heritage turkey | The Broad Breasted Bronze, like the Broad Breasted White, are nonstandardized commercial strains that do not qualify as a variety. | |
Narragansett | 1874 | heritage turkey | ||
Royal Palm | 1977 | heritage turkey | Largely ornamental, mostly white with distinctive black banding. | |
Slate | 1874 | heritage turkey | Alternatively known as Blue Slate or Lavender. | |
White Holland | 1874 |
Twelve breeds are recognized by the Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture. [5] Others with breed standards of European national associations are accepted.
Variety (by National Standards) | Variety (colour) | country of origin | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
American Blue (Slate Turkey) | gray/blue | USA | |
American Bronze | Brown/Black base color with white near some of the turkey's feather tips. | USA | |
American Black | USA | Pink legs and horn-colored beak. Spanish Black and Norfolk Black have black pigmented legs and beak. | |
Beltsville Small White | white | USA | |
Dindon du Bourbonnais | black | F | |
Cambridge Bronze | GB | ||
Deutsche Pute | D | with EE-Standard of Perfection | |
Deutsche Pute | blue | D | |
Bourbon Red | D | ||
Bronze | D | ||
Cröllwitzer | D | ≈Royal Palm (USA) | |
Buff | D | ||
Bronce | D | ||
narragansett coloured | D | ||
Red | D | ||
Red Winged | D | ||
Black | D | ||
Black Winged Bronze | D | ||
British white | D | ||
French turkey (Dindon) | porcelan coloured | F | |
Dindon du Gers | schwarz | F | |
Tacchino castano d'Italia | I | ||
Tacchino nero d'Italia | black | I | |
Pavo oscense | black | SP | |
Narragansett | USA | ||
Norfolk Black Turkey | GB | ||
Dindon de Ronquières | fauve | B | |
à épaulettes jaunes | B | ≈Tricoloré du Colorado (F), ≈Sweetgrass (USA) | |
jaspé | B | ≈Royal Palm (USA), ≈Cröllwitzer (EE) | |
perdrix | B | ≈Krefelder Pute (D) | |
White (blanc) | B | ||
Royal Palm | black and white | GB | |
Dindon rouge des Ardennes | B/F | a French breed, supposedly brought to Flanders in the 16th century from Mexico by the Spanish. | |
Dindon de Sologne | black | F | |
Czech turkey (Česká krůta) | Czech Wild White-braided Turkey (Divocezbarvené bíle lemované) | CZ | |
šedědivocezbarvene bíle lemované | CZ | ||
White Holland | USA | ||
English Turkey | buff | E | |
Other varieties not recognized by the APA or EE include the following:
The American Game is an American breed of game fowl, chickens bred specifically for cockfighting. It has many color varieties, and may also be kept for ornament.
The Araucana is a breed of domestic chicken from Chile. Its name derives from the Araucanía region of Chile where it is believed to have originated. It lays blue-shelled eggs, one of very few breeds that do so.
The Chinese goose is an international breed of domestic goose, known by this name in Europe and in North America.
The Indian Game is a British breed of game chicken, now reared either for meat or show. It originated in the early nineteenth century in the counties of Cornwall and Devon in south-west England. It is a heavy, muscular bird with an unusually broad breast; the eggs are brown.
The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was first seen in Massachusetts in the 19th century and for much of the early 20th century was the most widely kept chicken breed in the United States. It is a dual-purpose chicken, raised both for its meat and for its brown eggs. It is resistant to cold, easy to manage, and a good sitter.
The Dominique is an American breed of chicken, characterized by black-and-white barred plumage and a rose comb. It is considered to be the oldest American chicken breed, and is thought to derive from birds brought to America by colonists from southern England. It was well known by about 1750, and by the mid-nineteenth century was widely distributed in the eastern United States. It is a dual-purpose breed, but is kept principally for its brown eggs. It became an endangered breed in the twentieth century, but numbers have since recovered.
The Old English Game is a British breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: Carlisle Old English Game and Oxford Old English Game. There is also an Old English Game bantam.
The Swedish Blue or Blue Swedish is a Swedish breed of domestic duck. It emerged during the nineteenth century in what was then Swedish Pomerania, located in present-day north-east Germany.
The Call is a historic breed of small domestic duck. It is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, where the earliest descriptions and depictions of it date from the seventeenth century. It is similar in appearance to some other breeds of duck, but is much smaller, with a round head and very short bill. Ducks, but not drakes, are very loquacious and noisy, with a piercing high-pitched call which be heard from far away.
The New Hampshire Red or New Hampshire is an American breed of chicken. It was developed in the early twentieth century in the state of New Hampshire by selective breeding of Rhode Island Red stock; no other breed was involved. It is fast-growing, early-maturing, quick-feathering, and yields a meaty carcass. Mature birds are a light or medium red in color; they may fade in sunlight.
The Crested is a breed of domestic duck. It was probably brought to Europe from the East Indies by Dutch ships. It has its appearance because it is heterozygous for a genetic mutation causing a deformity of the skull.
The American Buff is an American breed of domestic goose. It was accepted by the American Poultry Association in 1947. It is named for its single plumage variety, which is a pale buff or apricot-fawn in color.
The Bourbon Red is an American breed of domestic turkey. It is named for its reddish-brown plumage and for its area of origin, Bourbon County, Kentucky, where it was developed in the last years of the nineteenth century. It was accepted into the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1909, and in the early twentieth century was an important commercial meat breed until the Broad Breasted White began to dominate industrial production. The Bourbon Red is considered a heritage turkey; it is an endangered breed, classified as 'watch' by the Livestock Conservancy. It was formerly known as the Bourbon Butternut or as the Kentucky Red.
The Magpie is a British breed of domestic duck. It has distinctive black and white markings reminiscent of the European magpie, and is a good layer of large eggs.
The Catalana, Catalan: Pota Blava, Spanish: Gallina del Prat or Catalana del Prat, is a Spanish breed of domestic chicken. It originates in the area of El Prat de Llobregat in the comarca of Baix Llobregat, in Catalonia in eastern Spain. It may also be called the Catalana del Prat Leonada or Buff Catalana for its golden plumage. The Catalana is a hardy dual-purpose breed kept for both eggs and meat.
The Nankin Bantam or Nankin is a British bantam breed of chicken. It is a true bantam, a naturally small breed with no large counterpart from which it was miniaturised. It is of South-east Asian origin, and is among the oldest bantam breeds. It is a yellowish buff colour, and the name is thought to derive from the colour of nankeen cotton from China.
The Silver Appleyard is a British breed of domestic duck. It was bred in the first half of the twentieth century by Reginald Appleyard, with the aim of creating a dual-purpose breed that would provide both a good quantity of meat and plenty of eggs.
The Norfolk Black, also known as the Black Spanish or Black Turkey, is a British breed of domestic turkey. It is thought to derive from birds taken to Britain from Spain, where they had arrived with Spanish explorers returning from the New World.
The Hook Bill or Dutch Hookbill is a breed of domestic duck characterised by an unusual down-curved beak. It is an ancient breed, and has been documented since the seventeenth century. Speculation that it originated in Asia, or is related to the Indian Runner, is apparently unsubstantiated.
The Saxony duck is a German breed of domestic duck. It was bred in Saxony in the 1930s, but because of the Second World War was recognised only in 1957.