Rare Breeds Canada and a small group of farmers have helped the University of Saskatchewan find a home for a unique flock of heritage turkeys.
Earlier this summer, the association got word that because of a lack of funding, the university was no longer able to keep the flock of Ridley turkeys it had housed since 1981.
“I got in touch with all the people I could think of who would be good guardians of these valuable birds,” said Margaret Thomson, turkey co-ordinator for Rare Breeds Canada.
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She is relieved that the flock of 120 birds has been dispersed to eight different locations across Canada and that feather and sperm samples have been saved by a Saskatoon farm animal genetics firm.
Thomson said the Ridley flock is one of the ancestors of the modern broad-breasted turkey and is worth preserving.
“Heritage birds have enormous genetic diversity. Modern birds don’t,” she said.
“One day, flocks like this may be needed to reintroduce things into future broad-breasted turkey genetics.”
For instance, there could be a time when turkey breeders need to draw upon those genetics to fend off disease or introduce other valuable traits to the modern turkey.
Thomson said there are other heritage flocks around, but she doesn’t know of any that are the size of the Ridley flock and have been deliberately raised to maintain the full diversity of the strain.
“This is a unique group,” she said.
Jacquie Tomblin, a farmer from Mozart, Sask., received 37 poults from the university in April. Since then, she discovered the original flock was raised about 11 kilometres away on a farm near Leslie, Sask.
“It’s kind of interesting that they’ve come back to the area they were originally from,” she said.
The animals are being raised in a combination of free range and caged environments, although the latter has proven difficult.
“They can fly. They are very, very good flyers. At four weeks of age they will fly over a five-foot panel,” said Tomblin.
Other attributes of the Ridley birds are that they are sociable, highly resistant to disease, one of few turkeys that will breed naturally and are flat-chested compared to modern birds.
“They look kind of goofy actually,” said Tomblin.
She has butchered a few animals. Toms dress out at about 20 pounds and hens at 15. She hasn’t had a chance to eat any but says they look “really yummy.”
Tomblin wants to keep her flock small, by butchering some for her needs and selling breeding stock to interested parties who commit to preserving the strain as is, without allowing the birds to get too big or commercial-looking.
“My hope is that anyone who is serious about maintaining them will get my birds,” said Tomblin.
