Chocolate Turkeys

                                                                                             Status: Critical

 

     Knowledge about Chocolates is scarce.  Before the Civil War, the Chocolate Turkey was the turkey breed of choice in the South. They were also common in France and may have come from there. During the Civil War, when food became scarce, the turkeys were eaten, killed in battle, and their breeders were lost to war.
 

     This created devastating destruction for the breed. Centuries later, they are still on the “Critical” list with watch groups.  Most of today’s Chocolate Turkey flocks have some Bronze, Bourbon Red, or Narragansett in their DNA due to the decimation of the breed. This doesn’t mean they aren’t a heritage breed according to The Livestock Conservancy which accepts them as a true heritage breed even though the APA doesn’t accept them as such.