War Eagle Turkeys

One of our goals for this year was to add a heritage breed of turkey. Turkeys are amazing birds to have around as they're almost like a dog with feathers. They're curious about everything that's going on around them, love begging for treats, and can be a great deterrent against hawks, or at least our two toms have been. They really are such inquisitive birds, and it's not unusual for our toms, Jim Bob and Snoody, to follow us around the yard checking out everything we're doing.

Early on, I decided that the breed we were going to add this year had to be War Eagle Turkeys. . . Oops, I mean Auburn Turkeys.

Auburns actually have nothing to do with the university or football, of course. Instead, they're named after the beautiful reddish-brown coloring of their plumage. They're one of the rarer varieties of turkeys, and are also an older breed, having been referenced in written records during the late 1700s and early 1800s around Philadelphia.

Our Auburn poults hatched out yesterday from eggs bought from Porter's last month, and let me just say, I can't wait to see these guys strutting around in the yard when they're older. Jim Bob definitely has competition for the handsomest turkey now.

By the way, I have a few very special (well, special to me as it's a breed I've been drooling over for a while) eggs incubating right now. They're not due to hatch until September 7th, so I'll post the results of that hatch then.