Bronze is the colour of turkey most similar to the wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo, which is still hunted in North and South America and from which all domestic colours are derived. The turkey is said to have arrived in Europe around the 16th century and has been domesticated ever since.

The white has been developed for the meat trade as it plucks clean and free from dark feather stubbs. The growing potential of the commercial strains of Whites is fantastic and has been developed for the greater proportion of breast meat to leg meat than ever the older coloured turkeys will have. The fashion has come full circle recently as the bronze is back in favour with the dark feather stubbs as proof that it is a bronze, more likely to be grown free-range and therefore carrying a price premium. The fact that any turkey grown on grass tastes better than one grown in barn is something that country people have known for a long time. The older breeds tend to do better outside than the commercial strains; they are very hardy, totally impervious to the cold preferring to roost outside and if it has been frosty you can hear the feathers crackle as they jump down in the morning. They like some protection from the wet and wind, like most birds, and somewhere quite dark to lay their eggs which they will incubate and rear successfully. They are susceptible to the fox, so protection from vermin is important.

Other colours of turkey vary widely: the Norfolk Black was the favourite for meat in the Eastern Counties for many years: the Buff, probably the rarest colour, is a lovely rich shade of gingery brown with white wings: the pied (Crollwitzer in Germany, Royal Palm in U.S.A.) is an attractive contrast of black and white stripes; the Blue is a delicate lavender and the Slate rather darker. Colours developed in America include the Narragansett (brown, grey and black), The Nebraskan spotted (buff, black and white freckled) and the Bourbon Red which is a burgundy contrasted with white.

The turkey is a magnificent bird in any colour. They become very tame and it is rare that they turn their aggression on people. They are insatiably curious and mischievous, but will fight amongst themselves unless an older male is there to keep the peace. The stags spend a great proportion of their time strutting about, displaying their tails in the typical display which everyone associates with turkeys, convinced that they are the most beautiful of creatures.

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