I was pretty lucky to get three Bourbon Red turkey eggs – that I hatched in the incubator – considering how late in the season I bought the trio. They were already moulting, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t see eggs until spring, but Henri and Etta surprised me. Of the three poults, two so far are toms, and the third, younger by a couple of weeks, I’m not sure about yet. If No. 3 ends up being a tom as well, we’ll be eating home-grown turkey sooner rather than later.
I’d named one of the birds Scarlet because of the breed’s coloring, but when I went out to feed them over the weekend and Scarlet dropped her feathers, ruffled up, and fanned out her tail I realized she’s a Rhett instead of a Scarlet.
Our birds made it through Thanksgiving without finding their way onto a platter, but as they continue to multiply we’ll control the number of toms in the flock through butchering and cooking.
For more: see my Historic Foodie blog.
